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

Although a handful of distinctive Minoan tools appear at Akrotiri, it is disappointing that
there is not a greater presence of unquestionable Cretan or mainland implements on the
islands, given the cultural expansions to this region. Tool marks are a better gauge of the
carpentry and masonry tools that were used on the islands. Stone-work from Akrotiri and
Ayia Irini bear traces of chisel, ax, and saw usage. The Mycenaean presence in the
Cyclades during LH III is not reflected very well from the carpentry/masonry tool
distributions.
Cyprus (Fig. 4.24):
Other than the Greek mainland, no region witnessed a more drastic change in tool
selections from the MBA to LBA than Cyprus. During the Middle Cypriot period,
single/flat axes, shaft-hole axes, and socketed chisels occur on the island, and fit into an
Anatolian and eastern Mediterranean tool tradition (see D2, A, E2 in Fig. 4.24). The
single/flat axes are, in fact, the implement par excellence on Cyprus during the MBA.
They continued to be produced in the LBA, but their popularity declined markedly. Even
single/flat adzes, a relatively rare implement during the second millennium, are found in
the Cypriot MBA and LBA. During the Late Cypriot period, there is an influx of new tool
types, mostly represented by shafted double-ended implements. Despite these novel tool
forms, 80% of the LC tools consist of implement types that already existed on the island
during the MC period. Of the MC tools, only shaft-hole axes fail to survive into the LC
period. The LC tool repertoire can be summarized by indigenous Cypriot tools types, a
few Anatolian-inspired implements, and shafted double-ended tools that reflect an
Aegean tool tradition. These Aegean-like tools parallel, perhaps surprisingly, Minoan
craft tools rather than Mycenaean examples. All Cypriot shafted tools have round sockets
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