Copper alloy chisel

The chisel is rectangular in form with tapering ends. There is a blade at one end with a rounded edge. The tool was likely solid cast in one piece from a mold and then the blade was hammered to its final shape. It has a dark brown patina with mottled green corrosion over much of the surface. There are several dents to the tapering rectangular edge towards the blade. The size of the chisel is impressive for the Early Bronze Age Cyclades.(1) Since it lacks an archaeological context, and the type has a long history, it could well date later in the Bronze Age.

Seán Hemingway




(1) A slightly smaller but comparable example, which is dated to the Early Cycladic II period but also lacks an archaeological context, exists in the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, inv. no. NG0224. See Museum of Cycladic Art: Highlights (Athens 2023), pp. 112-113, no. 52. On Cycladic Early Bronze Age metalwork, see K. Branigan, Aegean Metalwork of the Early and Middle Bronze Age (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974), pp. 24-26, pls. 14-15.