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

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final stage of <strong>the</strong> metal working: <strong>the</strong> hammering, cleaning <strong>and</strong> polishing of <strong>the</strong><br />

objects.” 543 Ano<strong>the</strong>r smith’s tool kit, made up of two pairs of tongs <strong>and</strong> a cold chisel, was<br />

deposited in a burial <strong>from</strong> LB II Megiddo (Tomb 912B). 544<br />

Notwithst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>the</strong>se<br />

examples, <strong>the</strong> deposition of tool sets into graves was <strong>the</strong> exception ra<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong> rule.<br />

Even if burials contained several carpentry/masonry instruments, <strong>the</strong> objects may not<br />

constitute a tool kit. This observation pertains to several burials <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> MBA <strong>and</strong> LBA<br />

(Table 5.2), which yielded exclusive, <strong>and</strong> sometimes excessive, examples of one<br />

carpentry/masonry implement type. The lack of diversity in <strong>the</strong>se graves shows that<br />

integrated tool kits were atypical of mortuary tool groupings.<br />

Tomb<br />

Date <strong>and</strong> Region Carpentry/masonry tools<br />

Byblos, Tomb II MBA, Syria-Palestine 4 single, flat axes<br />

Megiddo, Tomb 911D MBA, Syria-Palestine 2 shaft hole axes<br />

Ras Shamra, Ugarit, Tomb LVI MBA, Syria-Palestine 3 shaft hole axes<br />

Lapithos, Tomb 8 MBA, Cyprus 3 single, flat axes<br />

Lapithos, Tomb 15 MBA, Cyprus 2 single, flat axes<br />

Lapithos, Tomb 18 MBA, Cyprus 3 single, flat axes<br />

Lapithos, Tomb 50 MBA, Cyprus 12 single, flat axes<br />

Lapithos, Tomb 51 MBA, Cyprus 2 single, flat axes<br />

Lapithos, Tomb 203 MBA, Cyprus 2 single, flat axes<br />

Lapithos, Tomb 313A MBA, Cyprus 3 single, flat axes<br />

Lapithos, Tomb 313B MBA, Cyprus 2 single, flat axes<br />

Lapithos, Tomb 804 MBA, Cyprus 4 single, flat axes<br />

Kalavasos-Panayia Church, tomb 37 MBA, Cyprus 2 single, flat axes<br />

Kalami, Tomb 4 LBA, Crete 4 chisels<br />

Mouliana, Tholos A LBA, Crete 3 saws<br />

Mycenae, Tomb of <strong>the</strong> Tripods LBA, Greek mainl<strong>and</strong> 20 double axes<br />

Toumba tou Skourou, Tomb I LBA, Cyprus 2 socketed chisels<br />

Yeni Hayat Koyu Date unknown, Anatolia 3 chisels<br />

Table 5.2: Tombs with multiple carpentry/masonry tools of <strong>the</strong> same type<br />

Occasionally mortuary contexts have different kinds of carpentry/masonry<br />

utensils, but even in <strong>the</strong>se cases, craft kits are always apparent. When multiple wood- <strong>and</strong><br />

stone-working tools appear in <strong>the</strong> same grave, <strong>the</strong> variety usually does not extend beyond<br />

two implement types. Such restrictive levels of variation make poor cases for tool sets.<br />

543 Belgiorno 1997, 141.<br />

544 Guy 1938, 69-70; Deshayes 1960, inventory numbers: 3055, 3056; Catling 1964, 96, 99.<br />

234

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