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

A complete study of metal tools requires two other avenues of research that were
not fully undertaken in this project. The first is to understand the employment of chipped
stones and bone for tools in craft activities during the MBA and LBA. These utensils,
which had been used for thousands of years, were not eradicated with the introduction of
bronze implements. While the coexistence of stone, bone and metal tools is now
acknowledged for the entire second millennium, it is less clear whether craftspersons
deliberately utilized a combination of these tool types on the same projects. A more lucid
understanding of the relationship between metal and stone implements would represent a
major breakthrough in the evaluation of prehistoric craftsmanship, a point that Karimali
has previously emphasized. 845
Likewise, the comprehension of prehistoric tools would be
enhanced by a methodical examination of tool marks on various media but particularly
masonry. The value of markings from tools is evident in the reconstructions and
implication of the tubular drill in masonry and sculpture as well as the pendulum and
convex saws. A combined investigation that takes the selection of craft tools and their
traces of use into account could reveal localized craft techniques or interregional
connections in masonry work. Consideration of craft tools must take into account, even if
only superficially, the preservation of their cuttings, for such marks may indicate a tool’s
functionality.
Finally, additional methods of analysis are required to address ways for
differentiating carpentry and masonry implements. Metallographic procedures may
indicate how a blade was utilized and more specifically how a cutting edge was
transformed.
846
Perhaps, it is better to conduct a series of experiments for distinguishing
845 Karimali 2005; Karimali 2008.
846 For an example of this type of analysis in the Aegean, see: Tselios 2008.
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