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

metallurgy is better attested during the third millennium when it was more prevalent
throughout the northern and southern Aegean. 754 The Kythnos hoard of metal tools
testifies to the quality of metalwork produced and/or consumed in the Cyclades at the end
of the EBA. 755
Thus it is surprising that metal tools are uncommon during the MBA, but
this infrequency corresponds to the MH pattern.
The overall count of MBA tools and the signs for metalworking on the Greek
mainland and islands is severely low. On the other hand, Crete, Cyprus, Anatolia, and
Syria-Palestine had better access to metal resources and were more advanced in tool
industries and craftsmanship—not only in metallurgy but also in carpentry and masonry.
The inconsequential number of wood- and stone-working tools on the mainland and
islands corresponds to an absence of palatial or elite public edifices; the simple
construction methods on the MBA mainland and islands did not match the sophistication
evident on Crete, Anatolia or the Levant.
Late Bronze Age (1600 – 1050 BC)
There are nearly three times as many tools dated to the LBA in comparison to the
previous period (Fig. 3.1a, b; Fig. 4.29). The implements are dispersed throughout the
entire study region, and only Cyprus produced fewer tools in the LBA than the MBA.
The three Aegean regions collectively yielded more tools than the sum from Cyprus,
Anatolia and Syria-Palestine—a significant shift from the MBA pattern.
Carpentry/masonry and utilitarian tools remain the primary implement categories in the
LBA, while metal agricultural tools were manufactured in notable quantities for the first
time (more so in the eastern Mediterranean than the Aegean). As one might expect,
754 Day and Doonan 2007.
755 Branigan 1969; Fitton 1989.
319