The organization of flaked stone production at bronze age Lerna

Abstract

A study of nearly 12,000 lithic artifacts from Lerna was undertaken to determine if the lithics were produced by craft specialists. Analysis indicates that the production of lithics was controlled by part-time craft specialists based in individual households and not controlled by an elite central authority. The evidence of continuity in Bronze Age flintknapping does not support a hypothesis of discontinuity or cultural replacement at Lerna. Any interruptions had little effect on flintknapping technology or formal tool types. A decline in the supply of imported Melian obsidian at the end of Early Helladic III (Lerna IV) suggests an interruption of trade.