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

site, this technology may not have been commonly known throughout the region. For
instance, metallurgical operations represented information that was probably restricted to
a select group of specialists. Market demands, the needs for specific tool types, and the
scale of production were also important in determining which implements (and how
many) were made. Such preferences were directly related to the sophistication and
character of the craft industries that utilized the implements. Innovative tools enhanced
the ability of a craftsperson to complete a project, yet with the advancement of some
industries, artisans must have dictated what tool forms (old and new) were to be
manufactured. Unquestionably, the availability of metal was greater in the LBA than in
the MBA, and this explains, in part, the increased number of tools in the later period. As
craft industries became more sophisticated, however, their needs must also have
accounted for the higher concentration of LBA implements.
Carpentry and masonry work benefitted the most from the development of strong
metal tools. Stone and bone implements existed for thousands of years before metal
versions were adopted, and the utilization of metal tools impacted wood- and stone-
working activities more than any other type of work. Stone and bone tools (e.g. blades,
awls, and borers/piercers) sufficiently served activities like agriculture, meat and carcass
processing, leather working, and other basic cutting needs. Chipped-stone tools, like
obsidian blades, could cut into or shave wood, and simple stone axes perhaps felled small
trees and bushes. Yet-larger scale timber and carpentry projects like cutting down thick
trees, processing lumber, and forming planks/beams to be used in shipbuilding and/or
architecture needed stronger and more diverse implements; metal versions fulfilled such
requirements. Likewise, more delicate tasks like cutting out mortise holes would have
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