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

of comparison, there are 87 double axes, 46 broad chisels and 78 knives from Aegean
hoards. These numbers reflect considerable regional differences and the distinctive
preferences of craftspersons. Cypriot assemblages have a wider range of metallurgical
and agricultural tools than elsewhere, a trend that coincides with two well-recognized
Cypriot activities: metallurgy and farming. 618
Smithing tools like hammers, tongs,
charcoal shovels, furnace spatulas, other spatula-like tools, metal molds, weights, and
balance scales are all hoarded items. The agricultural tools recovered from Cypriot
hoards—sickles, plowshares, pruning hooks, picks, large shovels, and a plow scraper—
are just as diverse as the smithing implements.
The count of carpentry/masonry tools from Cypriot assemblages is inflated by the
collection of Pera bronzes, whose authenticity as a hoard is doubted by some scholars.
Fourteen out of the twenty Cypriot hoards incorporated at least one wood- and stone-
working tool, though many of these assemblages integrated a greater mix of this tool
category. The Enkomi Trésor de Bronzes, for instance, contained seven distinct
carpentry/masonry tools. Such a range of implements, like that of most Cypriot hoards,
exists because of the absence of a dominant, pan-island implement (e.g. something akin
to the double ax on Crete or the mainland). The collective range of the Cypriot tools
points to organized stockpiling and presumable tool kits. The penchant for implement
diversity in Cypriot hoards is accentuated by the selection of adze tools (double adzes,
ax-adzes, hammer-adzes, and flat adzes). Combination adzes were also stockpiled in
618 Hadjisavvas has argued that the metallurgical and agricultural industries are the most important
industries of the LC IIC urban centers. His argument is based upon the evidence at Alassa-Paliotaverna;
see Hadjisavvas 1996.
619 Åström 1977-78.
619
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