Weight and context: A new approach to the role of metals in LBA societies on Crete

The importance of metals in the LBA Minoan and Mycenaean societies on Crete has been a generally accepted view, but no one has so far focused directly on this topic. In this new approach on the basis of the distribution of the metal amount differences between the role of metals in LBA Minoan and Mycenaean societies were revealed. The analytical work is based on three parameters for the metal finds and three aspects of the regional metal assemblages. The approach is new in three ways: the metal-centred focus for studying Aegean societies, the holistic view comprising all types of copper-based metal finds, and particularly the quantification of the metal finds by weight. The most striking differences regarding metals between the two societies are how the valuable imported metal was used and its find context. The Minoans seem to have considered metal mainly from an economic point of view whereby a considerable share of the valuable metal was used for utilitarian artefacts needed by the whole population. Mycenaeans on the other hand used almost all metal for prestige artefacts for an elite. The main part of the Minoan metal finds is settlement finds, whereas the Mycenaean artefacts were deposited in tombs.