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

shaped razor. 545 A similar collection of tools came to light in Prosymna Tomb 33 (LH
IIIA–B), with a saw and a narrow chisel. 546 The saw-chisel combination at Zafer Papoura
and Prosymna may point toward an incomplete and very small tool set; a diverse kit
would comprise additional tool types. The implements from the Vaphio tholos tomb are
probably cultic in nature rather than acting as craft-associated tools. This interpretation
coincides with the elite character of the burial, whose grave goods generally reflect
status, prestige, and military power. 547
Since the number of implement sets in graves is nominal, complex tool groupings
are uncharacteristic of second millennium burials. When several tools appear in a grave,
they are typically of the same type. If multiple tool forms are present in a burial, no more
than two kinds are usually found. This limited diversity stands out from the extensive
selection of carpentry/masonry implements in other contexts, specifically hoards and
shipwrecks. Although craft-related implements accompanied the deceased on occasion,
the mortuary realm seldom yielded distinctive tool kits.
Workshops are an ideal context for discovering a kit. Work spaces, especially
those of carpenters and masons, are difficult if not impossible to recognize from the
imperfect archaeological record, especially for masons, who conduct their work outdoors.
Therefore, only a few wood- and stone-working implements are listed under the context
heading of a workshop. Several carpentry/masonry tools—a mix of fragmentary and
complete examples—came to light at a metallurgical workshop in the LM II Unexplored
Mansion at Knossos. This assemblage contained four saws, two drills, two double axes,
seven chisels (different types), two chisel-like implements, and a possible drawing
545 Evans 1906, 50.
546 Blegen 1937, 346-347.
547 Kilian-Dirlmeier 1987, 207-11, figure 9.
236