EARLY IRON AGE BALANCE WEIGHTS AT LEFKANDI, EUBOEA

Abstract

Summary. This report analyses the 16 stone balance weights and fragments recovered in 1994 from the ninth‐century BC Tomb 79 in the Toumba cemetery at Lefkandi, Euboea, the tomb of the ‘Warrior Trader’. In material, shapes, and mass standards, the weights are for the most part virtual duplicates of common LBA balance weights from Cyprus and the Levant and attest to (a) the long‐term continuity of maritime trading across the Bronze/Iron Age divide in the Cypro‐Levantine world, and (b) the active participation of Euboeans in this commercial sphere no later than the early ninth century. Discussed also is the relationship between some of these weights and the later Euboeic weight standard.