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

specifically adze variations (e.g.
double adzes, ax-adzes, hammeradzes,
etc.)
hoards have their closest parallels to Neopalatial tools from Crete
Minoan carpentry/masonry tools are not restricted to Crete and appear in various
foreign contexts, raising the possibility that Minoan craftspersons operated away from
their homeland. Minoan implements in the Cyclades are not unexpected, especially on
Akrotiri, where a Cretan saw and elongated chisel were found. Metal saws come to light
in every study region, though Crete claims nearly 70% of the examples. The easy
discernment of Minoan saws makes them conspicuous when they appear outside of Crete.
The well-known evidence for Minoan settlements or enclaves in the Aegean at this time
(e.g. Akrotiri, Ayia Irini, Phylakopi, Trianda, and Miletus) permits the conclusion that
Minoan craftspersons worked at these outposts. 770 Therefore it is surprising that more
Minoan implements have not turned up at these localities. 771 Two Anatolian objects also
have links to Minoan utensils: a chisel mold from MBA Kültepe and a partial saw from
the Hittite empire period at Boğazköy-Hattusha. The shape of the chisel matrix bears a
stronger resemblance to Minoan elongated chisels than to Anatolian types. The mold is
not indisputably Cretan, but it may represent a vestige of an Anatolian-Minoan craft
connection. A more obvious link between these regions is the large, partial saw (half
preserved) found in the lower city of Boğazköy-Hattusha. Only two other saws (from
MBA Troy) have been recovered in Anatolia, and the Boğazköy-Hattusha example
parallels Minoan types, as Neve has convincingly argued. 772
The existence of a solitary
Cretan tool at Hattusha cannot substantiate the notion of Minoan artisans working at the
770 Architectural traits at Thera closely replicate example from Crete, as discussed in Palyvou 2005. For
Miletus, see Niemeier and Niemeier 1999.
771 For standard works on the interaction and contact between Crete and the Cyclades in the LBA, see
Davis 1979; Schofield 1982; Broodbank 2004.
772 Neve 1989, 402-405.
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