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

within a region. Whenever possible, the LBA implements are classified chronologically
by early LBA (1600-1400 BC), peak LBA (1400-1200 BC), and late LBA (1200-1050
BC). It should be noted that the early LBA includes the transitional phases that
awkwardly fall across the traditional divide of the MBA from the LBA (see chronological
table on page xxiii). Therefore, tools from Neopalatial (MMIII-LMI), Shaft Grave era
(MHIII-LHI), and Old Hittite kingdom (1650-1500BC) contexts are included in the
“early LBA” grouping. Unfortunately many tools that are published lack chronological
precision and are broadly attributed to the LBA. A tool’s exact date often may be
questioned; this is especially true for hoard implements, whose contexts may be poorly
understood. Numerous hoards date to the transitional period of LH III B-C on the
mainland or the equivalent LC IIC-IIIA on Cyprus, and, as is the case of the Tiryns
hoard, can contain much earlier material in them. 497
When broadly dated to the transition
from the 13 th to the 12 th century, tools are placed in the “peak LBA” rather than the “late
LBA” group.
The total count of carpentry and masonry tools at each site is impacted by the
scope of excavations and their publication. Despite this important caveat, several regions
include one mega-site as judged by the level of carpentry/masonry tool consumption. For
example, Mycenae, Enkomi, Boğazköy and Ugarit (and Byblos) each yielded a
disproportionally high count of wood- and stone-working tools within their respective
Mycenaean, Cypriot, Anatolian, and Syro-Palestinian tool assemblages. Crete is the
exception, as numerous palatial sites yielded comparable quantities of carpentry/masonry
tools. Excavations at Knossos and Zakros have provided a similar number of these
implements, even though one may have expected Knossos to have been the primary tool
497 For the Tiryns hoard, see Maran 2006, 141.
195