Book Review: The Minoan Double Axe: An Experimental Study of Production and Use by Maria Lowe Fri

Abstract

British Archaeological Reports has once again provided the world with an excellent publication on experimental archaeology. Maria Lowe Fri’s book is a revised version of her Ph.D. thesis at Stockholm University (2007). As the title indicates, it focuses on the Minoan double axe, providing a review of previous research (typologies and formal analysis) on such axes before exploring the archaeological evidence for double axe production in Crete, where she not only reviews the evidence for axes of different metallic composition (copper, arsenical bronzes, and tin-bronzes), but also explores the nature of their manufacture with moulds, crucibles, and various finishing techniques.

Keywords

• review
• axe
• experimental archaeology
• bronze age
• sweden
• book