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

The link between a craftsperson and one’s tools is complex, for there may exist a
“deep emotional relationship,” as described above. Such a connection between an
individual and implements is indicated by Pavlos Korfiatis, a 20 th -century machinist born
in Pireaus, Greece: “I could kiss the lathe, it could kiss me, hug me.” 98 Personal
attachments to certain tools may dictate their continued possession, even if the
implements are no longer functional. Objects affiliated with memories are difficult to
discard, and so broken, seemingly non-desirable utensils may be retained for varied
purposes. Even if objects could not fulfill their original purpose, they may have served as
mementos for triggering recollections. Keepsakes are special items passed down through
generations, and tools, like most objects, could attain an heirloom status. A quote by
Triantafyllos Boudala, a shipbuilder from Skopelos (born in 1927), confirms the
possibility of tool heirlooms: “I have a broken measure from back then…it broke and my
grandfather kept it as a keepsake and then my father had it and then I got it…” 99
Not
every tool achieved the status of a memento, yet tools were evidently retained for
multiple reasons not entirely based on their functional value.
The question of a tool’s worth and whether the object was retained by a
craftsperson is especially pertinent to interpreting metal hoards, which typically
contained numerous implements. It is exceedingly difficult to gauge the value of items
within a metal hoard. Scholars have envisioned hoards most often as dedications or as
scrap metal destined for recycling in a furnace (see Chapter 5). Such approaches simplify
hoarding behavior and impose a modern value system, which overemphasizes metallic
worth, upon archaeological data. Identifying a unified purpose for a hoard is challenging
98 Polyzoi 2009, 85.
99 Polyzoi 2009, 85.
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