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

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MBA site Total carpentry<br />

- masonry tools<br />

Tool types<br />

Byblos 47 35 single/flat axes; 8 chisels; 3 saws; 1 gouge<br />

Megiddo 18 7 single/flat axes; 6 shaft-hole axes; 4 chisels; 1 double ax<br />

Ras Shamra,<br />

Ugarit<br />

11 8 shaft-hole axes; 2 single/flat axes; 1 chisel<br />

Jericho 3 3 single/flat axes<br />

Gezer 2 1 single/flat ax; 1 trunnion/lugged ax<br />

Tell Siyannou 1 1 shaft-hole ax (crescent shaped <strong>and</strong> fenestrated)<br />

Tell el Ajjul 1 1 trunnion/lugged ax<br />

Table 4.29: MBA Syro-Palestinian carpentry/masonry tool distribution by site<br />

Sites <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> Syro-Palestinian LBA:<br />

While <strong>the</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> for single/flat axes declined on Cyprus by <strong>the</strong> LBA, <strong>the</strong><br />

implement remained <strong>the</strong> preferred carpentry/masonry tool among LBA Syro-Palestinians.<br />

Ras Shamra (Ugarit) produced <strong>the</strong> overwhelming majority of wood- <strong>and</strong> stone-working<br />

implements <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> region, similar to <strong>the</strong> disproportion of tools found at Mycenae,<br />

Enkomi, <strong>and</strong> Boğazköy (Table 4.30). Given <strong>the</strong> socio-political organization of <strong>the</strong> Levant<br />

in <strong>the</strong> LBA, one would expect a more evenly scattered distribution of tools reflective of a<br />

peer-polity arrangement, akin to what is seen on Neopalatial Crete. Perhaps <strong>the</strong> restricted<br />

tool pattern in Syria-Palestine may be attributed to <strong>the</strong> thorough excavation <strong>and</strong><br />

publication of Ugarit. The tools <strong>from</strong> LBA Ugarit included single/flat axes, chisels, shaft-<br />

hole axes/adzes, drills, <strong>and</strong> trunnion/lugged axes; this selection recalls implement types<br />

<strong>from</strong> MBA Syria-Palestine <strong>and</strong> generally <strong>from</strong> Anatolia. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>the</strong>re are<br />

hardly any signs of tool similarities between Ugarit <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Aegean</strong>. Comparison of <strong>the</strong><br />

Cypriot <strong>and</strong> Ugaritic carpentry/masonry tools indicates a few similarities, <strong>the</strong> best being<br />

<strong>the</strong> continued use of <strong>the</strong> single/flat ax into <strong>the</strong> LBA. Several shafted double-sided<br />

implements <strong>from</strong> LBA Megiddo (double axes, ax-adzes, <strong>and</strong> ax-hammers) are logical<br />

possibilities of <strong>Aegean</strong> imports or inspirations. In summary, <strong>the</strong> LBA Syro-Palestinian<br />

212

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