To Use or Not to Use a Minoan Chisel? Ancient Technology in a New Light

Abstract

The Minoan chisel is thought to have been used by the metal worker, the stone mason, the sculptor, the carpenter, and the ivory and bone worker. However, barely any work has been conducted to substantiate the different workers and their chisels. For example, the different materials used by the proposed workers indicate that use-wear on the cutting edges probably are of diverse characters depending on the different grade of hardness of the material worked on. To add to this, there have been extremely few experiments conducted with bronze chisels, which could give some indications of use and users. This article aims to disentangle questions regarding the chisels and the working of stone by addressing two issues: The use of chisels on stone during the Minoan period and experimental work with replicas in order to investigate if the bronze chisels were suitable as stone working tools.

Keywords

• stone working
• limestone
• sculpture
• carving
• bronze age
• greece