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

and the exclusivity of carpentry tools was probably intentional. The EBA–MBA hoards
typically contained fewer than ten objects, but the level of variation therein was notable,
each hoard producing at least three different tool forms on average.
In comparison to the EBA–MBA caches, LBA hoards are collectively defined by
a greater range of tools, implement subtypes, and a wider selection of non-tool objects.
Although agricultural and metallurgical instruments were included in second millennium
BC hoards, more than half of the stockpiled implements were for wood- and stone-
working. By and large, carpentry and masonry implements are more common in
Mycenaean and Minoan hoards, while Cypriot assemblages, though they contain these
implements, have a fuller range of tools for agriculture and metalworking. These regional
differences in hoarding behavior reflect localized preferences in the selection of tools.
The presence of metallurgical implements in Cypriot assemblages is a reflection
of the widespread metallurgical activity on the island. Metallurgical tools are rare in
Aegean hoards, but common in Cypriot ones. Tongs, charcoal shovels, furnace spatulas,
hammers (sledgehammers and/or mallets), metal molds, and other smith tools are found
in the Cypriot hoards at Sinda, Pyla-Kokkinokremnos, Mathiati, and Enkomi (the Gunnis
hoard and the Foundry hoard). Secondary metalworking activity is also ascertained by
finishing tools (whetstones) and mercantile equipment for trading metals (weights and
balance pans). The evidence (admittedly limited) for smith activity within Aegean hoards
is attested by a sword casting (Mycenae Tsountas hoard); a pyramidal sledgehammer,
dagger casting and file (Athens Acropolis hoard); and fragmentary ingots and scrap metal
(various hoards). The metal merchant hoard from Mochlos is unusual in that it has both
tongs and balance pans, two items otherwise absent from Aegean caches. This collection
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