The impression I've gotten is that copper and bronze knives were prestige items, not necessarily something that every household would have used for cutting meat or fibers, but what about stone knives? Obsidian blades? How common a tool was a knife for the average person? Do we know?
I've read about the mass production of bone tools, and I imagine that stone knives were relatively common, but were they necessary for every individual, or were they the sort of thing a community leader might have and allow to be used as needed, like how bread ovens were basically one-per-community?
I'm trying to get a sense of when metal knives became a common household / personal item and what would have been normal before that time.
Also, I realize that "the Bronze Age" is pretty broad, but I'm interested in broad trends and would be happy with an answer about any region, urban or rural, settled or nomadic.
Thank you!
I hate to always be this person, but I’d suggest also asking /r/AskAnthropology. For all Bronze Age cultures the historical record is sparse, and for many, especially the earlier Bronze Age, they don’t exist at all. What few there are, the tool ownership of the common person would not be the most pressing thing to write down.
An archaeologist who could comment on the commonality of bronze, vs copper, vs stone or other organic material tools like bones, would probably have the most quantitative answer.
I used to be an archaeologist myself, who unfortunately had to leave the field because it just didn’t pay enough to give my family the life I wanted to give, so I moved to higher paying pastures completely outside the field of anthropology. I only say that because I know this is 100% something archaeologists are equipped to answer, and actually I’m pretty confident that I know the answer myself, but because I couldn’t back it with historical sources, and I’d rely on archaeology, I don’t think my post would meet the standards of this subreddit.