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

IIIA-B) 488 and from Kalapodi (LH IIIC late – EPG). 489 Küpper provided an excellent
reconstruction of the Kalapodi band saw, which is based on analogy with the modern
hand, band saw (Plate 4.48a, b); the blade was attached on either end to a wooden frame
to provide a firm grip for a craftsperson during the cutting process. The width of the
Kalapodi band saw is only 1.8 cm. Other small, band-like fragments with serrated or
slightly jagged edges are recognized here as fragments of band saws based on
comparable blade widths. Several saw fragments either have a 1.3 or a 1.8 cm width, but
pieces of this type can defy identification if the serrated edges are not well-preserved.
Two band-like fragments from the Orchomenos hoard are potentially from a band saw
(Plates 4.49-50), for the width of both pieces (1.7‒1.9 cm) recalls the Kalapodi example.
The fragments, however, were not originally published as saw pieces, for they were
considered scrap metal. 490
The exact width of the Evangelistria blade is unknown, but a
measurement between 1.3 and 1.8 cm is hypothesized here based on comparisons to other
band saws. Small band-like saw fragments are also attested on Crete, but whether these
were hand-held implements or comparable to the reconstruction of the Kalapodi saw is
unknown. Exclusive to Crete (three examples) and Cyprus (one case), the double-edged
saw (Type 5) was not a standard subtype, even in those regions.
I: Files and rasps (Plate 4.52, 4.53)
The rasp is a useful carpentry tool, yet extremely rare in the Bronze Age.
only rasp in the dataset came from LM I Mochlos, which has a file-like shaft and a
488 The Evangelistria saw is on display in the Nauplion Museum, but not fully published. The Evangelistria
chamber tomb cemetery was discussed by C. Piteros in a paper titled “Mycenaean Nauplia” at a conference
on titled: “Mycenaeans Up to Date: The Archaeology of the NE Peloponnese – Current Concepts and New
Directions, 10th-14th November 2010, Athens.”
489 For the Kalapodi saw, see: Felsch 1996, 382 entry 2236,plate 63; Küpper 1996, 15, figure 128 middle.
490 For a brief and preliminary publication of the Orchomenos hoard, see: Spyropoulos 1970.
491 Petrie (1917, 44) discusses the file and rasp but does not list any examples from the Bronze Age.
491
The
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