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

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

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Mycenaean <strong>and</strong> Hittite tool connections<br />

Tubular drill traces in Mycenaean<br />

<strong>and</strong> Hittite masonry<br />

Tubular drill traces in Mycenaean<br />

<strong>and</strong> Hittite sculpture<br />

Pendulum saw usage at Mycenae,<br />

Tiryns, Gla <strong>and</strong> possibly Boğazköy;<br />

Minoan-style saw found at<br />

Boğazköy<br />

manufactured of gold.<br />

The origin of tubular drill use in <strong>the</strong>se regions is unknown, but<br />

circular holes are plentiful in Hittite <strong>and</strong> Mycenaean citadels,<br />

including a 17cm drill hole in <strong>the</strong> jamb of <strong>the</strong> Steintor at Tiryns.<br />

More evidence for this device exists in Hittite sculpture; <strong>the</strong> Lion<br />

Gate relief <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Treasury of Atreus are <strong>the</strong> Mycenaean<br />

examples.<br />

It is unclear if pendulum saws were restricted to Greece. Saw<br />

cuts at Boğazköy may indicate a convex saw. How a Minoan saw<br />

ended up in Anatolia is a mystery—perhaps through contact with<br />

<strong>the</strong> Mycenaeans.<br />

Three prominent Near <strong>Eastern</strong> (Anatolian <strong>and</strong> Syro-Palestinian) tool types exist in<br />

<strong>Aegean</strong> assemblages. Crescent <strong>and</strong>/or fenestrated axes have a very long ancestry <strong>and</strong> are<br />

scattered throughout Syria-Palestine <strong>and</strong> Anatolia. Examples made of gold come <strong>from</strong><br />

Byblos, indicating that <strong>the</strong> implement could be used in ceremonies <strong>and</strong> rituals. The<br />

presence of a bronze shafted, crescent ax in <strong>the</strong> LH IIA Vaphio tholos is unique within<br />

<strong>the</strong> <strong>Aegean</strong>, but <strong>the</strong> tool type is also known <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> iconography of Minoan seals. While<br />

<strong>the</strong> object was probably imported <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> east, it seems to have been a ritual item of<br />

<strong>Aegean</strong> priests. This conclusion is reached <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> depictions on seals (<strong>from</strong> Crete <strong>and</strong><br />

Vaphio) that portray long-robbed males holding similar axes. 783<br />

Only three socketed<br />

chisels have been found in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Aegean</strong>, implying that <strong>the</strong>y were inspired or came <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

east, ei<strong>the</strong>r Anatolia or Cyprus. The trunnion/lugged ax, is principally an Anatolian<br />

implement <strong>and</strong> is found in smaller numbers in Syria-Palestine, Cyprus <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

shipwrecks. All trunnion/ lugged ax molds are Anatolian, confirming <strong>the</strong> tool’s<br />

production in this area. The tool also appears in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Aegean</strong>, though only nine examples<br />

783 Evans 1935, 413-414, figure 343; Kilian-Dirlmeier 1987, 204 figures 7 <strong>and</strong> 8 (#225).<br />

341

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