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

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Quantities of raw metal were widely circulated among <strong>the</strong>se areas, a result of <strong>the</strong><br />

exploitation of specific ore sources. Technological advancements in metalworking were<br />

broadly commensurate within <strong>the</strong> study regions. Some regions progressed more quickly<br />

than o<strong>the</strong>rs in terms of metallurgical practices, yet <strong>the</strong> consumption of metal tools<br />

throughout this defined geographical space provides an opportune arena for gauging craft<br />

interaction. Ano<strong>the</strong>r common element of <strong>the</strong>se regions was <strong>the</strong> widespread development<br />

of elite architecture at various points in <strong>the</strong> second millennium. Cut stone blocks appear<br />

in monumental buildings by <strong>the</strong> <strong>Middle</strong> <strong>Bronze</strong> <strong>Age</strong> in Crete, Anatolia <strong>and</strong> Syria-<br />

Palestine; by <strong>the</strong> <strong>Late</strong> <strong>Bronze</strong> <strong>Age</strong>, Cyprus <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Greek mainl<strong>and</strong> also produced<br />

impressive masonry. 38<br />

Definitive architectural links between <strong>the</strong>se regions are elusive,<br />

yet prospective technological connections may be discernible <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> distribution<br />

patterns of construction tools.<br />

As <strong>the</strong> overall goal of this dissertation is to ascertain instances of contact between<br />

several craft industries over broad spatial <strong>and</strong> temporal parameters, <strong>the</strong> study does not<br />

employ any archaeometallurgical techniques in its analysis. Research that probes <strong>the</strong><br />

elemental composition, lead isotope ratio, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> metallic structure of objects remain<br />

essential scientific <strong>and</strong> metallographic methods for investigating metals, despite <strong>the</strong>ir<br />

absence <strong>from</strong> this study. Access to a laboratory, financial constraints, <strong>and</strong> difficulty in<br />

obtaining permits for sampling metal objects were impediments that prevented <strong>the</strong>se<br />

scientific methods <strong>from</strong> being undertaken. Moreover, many objects in <strong>the</strong> database have<br />

been chemically tested in <strong>the</strong> past. Scientific sampling is required when research agendas<br />

dictate such methods, but was not directly relevant to <strong>the</strong> goals of this study, which in <strong>the</strong><br />

first instance was to create a new inventory that is as complete as possible; it turned out<br />

38 Shaw 1973a; Shaw 1973b; Wright 1978; Hult 1983; Harmansah 2007; Shaw 2009.<br />

24

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