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

Ayia Marina 1 1 chisel
Gona (Macedonia) 1 1 single/flat ax
Table 4.22: Middle Helladic carpentry/masonry tool distribution by site
Sites from the LH mainland cultural sphere:
The diversity of tool types, the sum of the implements, and the count of sites with
tools from the LH period is beyond comparison to the MH data. The spike in
carpentry/masonry tools occurred primarily during the Mycenaean palatial period (LH
IIIA1‒IIIB). There are only 22 wood- and stone-working specimens, mainly chisels and
drills, attributed to the early Mycenaean period (MMIII‒LH II). 504
Generally, the
prominent LBA mainland tools are chisels, double axes and drills. While the mainland
and Crete both favored the double ax as their preeminent tool, Mycenaean saws do not
match Minoan samples in quantity or size. Mainland double axes are regularly found in
hoards and all but two are dated to the LH III period.
The majority of double axes were excavated at Mycenae, which coincides with
the site’s high retention of tools in relation to other localities (Table 4.23). The tool count
from Mycenae illustrates that wood- and stone-working implements were more accessible
there than at any other mainland site. The second highest yield of implements came from
Tiryns, but this quantity equates to less than half of the Mycenae specimens. This
disproportional allotment contradicts the more evenly dispersed Minoan tools. Only eight
wood- and stone-working tools were found at the Palace of Nestor, thereby accentuating
the disparity in tool counts among the Mycenaean palatial sites. The tools that helped
construct the megaron and surrounding complex at Pylos were obviously removed from
the site prior to its destruction. The Mycenae and Tiryns tools constitute the densest
504
Additional tools may be assigned to this period, but this low number represents only those cases that are
definitively dated to this phase.
200