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

some hoards contained thousands of objects, often carefully arranged. 567 In Northern
Europe, prehistoric hoards have been found in Britain, 568 Germany, Hungary, Poland,
Scandinavia, 569 northern Croatia, Bulgaria/Romania, 570
and Slovenia. Clearly, hoarding
was a regular and significant practice in the European Bronze Age.
Hoarding is understudied and undervalued in the Bronze Age Mediterranean,
perhaps on account of Mediterranean assemblages not measuring up to their prehistoric
counterparts in Europe. Harding perceived Greece, with its “extraordinarily low
representation of metal deposition,” as a region of relatively minor impact when it comes
to hoarding, thus reflecting a “startling mismatch” for a palatial society with a developed
571
metallurgical industry. Despite this observation, numerous Aegean and eastern
Mediterranean caches are worthy of a detailed investigation. Within these regions, metal
assemblages are known from palatial citadels (Mycenae, Athens), palatial storage areas
(Thebes hoard within Arsenal area), 572
urban town centers with a vibrant metallurgical
industry (Enkomi), wells (Orchomenos, Enkomi Brunnen 212), domestic settings
(Mochlos merchant hoard), sanctuaries (Kition, possibly Anthedon), and as stray
collective finds (Andronianoi, Katamachi, Kalydon-Psorolithi). Although Bass; Catling;
Spyropoulos; Branigan; Matthäus and Schumacher-Matthäus; Knapp; Knapp et al.; and
Borgna have discussed many of these hoards at length, re-examination of their
567
Muhly 2003, 292.
568
Taylor 1993; Needham 2001; Bradley 1990.
569
Levy 1982.
570
Chapman 2000, 112-121.
571
Harding 2000, 365.
572
This hoard was recently excavated at the street corner of Pelopidou and Zengini in modern Thebes. The
location is near the so-called Arsenal, and two new areas were excavated in 2005 and 2006 by the 9 th
Ephoria of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Thebes. Although this hoard is unpublished and relatively
new, Dr. Vasilis Arravantinos graciously invited me to examine the hoard in the Thebes Museum. I visited
the museum on 18-vii-2008 and, with the help of Yannis Fappas, had the privilege to view and handle the
hoard. I am indebted to both scholars for their hospitality and cooperation in allowing me to view the
unpublished material.
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