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Middle and Late Bronze Age Metal Tools from the Aegean, Eastern ...

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Shipwrecks 2 - 2 -<br />

Total 370 185 133 52<br />

Table 4.5: Single/flat ax distribution<br />

Non-shafted ax blades are very common in <strong>the</strong> Egyptian repertoire of tools, but<br />

<strong>the</strong> st<strong>and</strong>ard type <strong>from</strong> that region is short <strong>and</strong> semi-circular, <strong>the</strong>refore bearing no<br />

similarity to any single blade in <strong>the</strong> current dataset. 367 The distribution of single/flat axes<br />

is widespread during <strong>the</strong> second millennium, yet different regional patterns are<br />

perceptible (Table 4.5). Less than one-tenth of <strong>the</strong> extant single/flat axes are <strong>from</strong> <strong>Aegean</strong><br />

contexts, including only three examples <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> MBA. The blade was equally sparse in<br />

Anatolia, for <strong>the</strong> tool was most prevalent in <strong>the</strong> eastern Mediterranean. Cyprus <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

Syro-Palestinian region shared a strong preference for <strong>the</strong>se simple implements. The tool<br />

is unique in having a greater number <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> MBA than <strong>the</strong> LBA. The tool was<br />

pervasive on Cyprus during <strong>the</strong> MBA <strong>and</strong> prominent along <strong>the</strong> Syro-Palestinian coast<br />

during <strong>the</strong> same period. The MC single/flat ax developed naturally <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> EBA Cypriot<br />

metallurgical tradition, as copper-alloy axes were produced as early as <strong>the</strong> EC I period. 368<br />

The large number of MC single/flat axes is attributed to numerous burials along <strong>the</strong><br />

nor<strong>the</strong>rn coast of <strong>the</strong> isl<strong>and</strong>, where highly-valued metal objects were deposited in great<br />

quantity. Keswani explained this early MC phenomenon as <strong>the</strong> upshot of nascent,<br />

indigenous elites procuring <strong>the</strong> isl<strong>and</strong>’s metal resources while promoting <strong>and</strong> confirming<br />

<strong>the</strong>ir newfound wealth in <strong>the</strong> mortuary realm. 369<br />

Of 123 MC single/flat axes, 83 were<br />

discovered as burial goods (for example, one <strong>from</strong> Alambra, shown in Plate 4.14). A<br />

substantial number of LC axes (26) have been recovered as well, yet this aggregate<br />

represents one-fifth of <strong>the</strong> previous period’s count. Only six LC axes were found in<br />

367<br />

For an overview of <strong>the</strong> Egyptian single blade, see: Petrie 1917, 5-11, plates I-VIII; Davies 1987, 27-37,<br />

plates 1-10; Scheel 1989, 47-48.<br />

368<br />

Catling 1964, 85, 87.<br />

369<br />

Keswani 2004; Keswani 2005.<br />

153

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