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

Two elongated chisels from
Mycenae Grave Circle A, Shaft IV
and V (LH I)
Double ax from Achaea or Patras
general area, dated to LH I‒III
Ax-adze (LH IIB) from Vaphio
(Laconia)
Saw from the LH II−LH IIIA1
Andronianoi hoard (Euboea)
The Minoan versus the Mycenaean
double ax form
Mycenaean-style double ax from
Mallia, Quartier Nu (LM III)
Tomb of the Double Axes at
Isopata, Knossos (LM III)
As above, this chisel type in the Shaft Graves resembles the large
Minoan chisels.
With a circular shaft hole and a wide central area, this double ax
has a typical Minoan form and may be a Neopalatial import.
This tool type is most common to Crete. This specific ax-adze has
a Minoan figure-of-eight shield design on two of its sides.
The size and form resembles Minoan examples. There are no
worthy parallels from the Greek mainland.
The Mycenaean double ax does not appear with regularity until
the LH III period. Once they were developed, the Mycenaean
version had been improved ergonomically in comparison to the
Minoan types.
The tool’s general shape and oval shaft hole resemble Mycenaean
double axes. The LM III date coincides with the proliferation of
the form throughout the mainland.
A Mycenaean-style double ax occurs in this LM III tomb.
Furthermore, a cist in the tomb was cut in the shape of a
Mycenaean double ax.
Ever since the discovery of the Shaft Graves and their publication, scholars have
speculated about the level of interaction between Crete and Mycenae. 778 This discussion
is especially pertinent for assessing the craft links of these areas. Dickinson, for instance,
proposed a “special relationship” between Mycenae and a Minoan palace, likely Knossos,
whereby the mainland employed craftspersons from Crete. 779
By and large, Minoan
carpentry/masonry implements do not appear in the Mycenae Shaft Graves. Double axes,
other double-sided implements, and saws—all common in the Neopalatial repertoire—are
unattested in the Shaft Graves. Only two elongated chisels from the Grave Circles
represent evidence for imported Minoan wood- and stone-working tools. As the Shaft
778 Vermeule 1975; Bloedow 1997, 442-446.
779 Dickinson 1977, 55; Dickinson 1983. This type of connection is perhaps best seen in the metal vessels
from the mainland and Crete; see: Matthäus 1980a, 339-341; Matthäus 1980b, 39-42.
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