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

metallurgical operations are plentiful and scattered during the LBA, though the Greek
mainland is an odd exception. Within most regions, a single site acts as the primary
consumer of tools, suggesting that there were strict systems of control in how implements
were distributed. Mycenae, Hattusha, Enkomi, and Ugarit are the principal tool-yielding
sites within their respective regions. Tools are evenly dispersed among the Cretan sites—
not only the palaces but also smaller towns like Mochlos—reflecting the ubiquity and
availability of certain craft tools. On the Greek islands, one would anticipate a greater
assemblage of implements from key settlements like Akrotiri, Phylakopi and Ayia Irini,
but there are only a handful of examples.
As the densest concentration of LBA tools is from the Aegean, the period’s
overview begins with evidence from those regions before turning to the east. By the
Neopalatial and Final Palatial periods on Crete, metallurgy became pervasive on the
island, particularly within the eastern and central sections. LBA Cretan metallurgy
consisted of both large-scale palatial operations and provincial industries that served local
needs, with examples known from Zakros, Palaikastro, Papadiokampos, Mochlos,
Gournia, Mallia, Ayia Triadha, Phaistos, Kommos, Tylissos, Knossos (Unexplored
Mansion), Poros-Katsambas, and Chania—to name the most obvious. 756
The increase of
LM sites with traces of metallurgical activity parallels a dramatic rise in tool quantities on
Crete. There are over four times as many LM tools as MM examples, and the
intensification of metal working sites and tools seems strongly correlated.
Despite the prominent archaeometallurgical evidence from the LM period,
metallurgical tools, including molds, are not as frequent on the island as in the MM
phase. Yet the LM proportion for metalworking tools is on par with that of Anatolia and
756 For a general overview of LM metalworking, see Hakulin 2004; Hakulin 2008.
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