The claw-tooth chisel and the Hekatompedon problem

Issues of tool and technique in Archaic Athens

Abstract

For nearly a century, the claw-tooth chisel has been at the heart of debates concerning the dating and siting of monuments on the Archaic Acropolis. Discussion of the adaptation and early uses of the chisel has not been without controversy, and the chronological and topographical ramifications of these issues continue to underscore many of the problems, questions, and assumptions about the 6^th and early 5^th century B.C. sanctuary of Athena. In particular, the original location of the Hekatompedon, or Bluebeard Temple, has been connected to the use of the claw. This paper reviews the history of the claw as well as its contentious place in scholarly debate, and considers its role in the problem of the so-called H-architecture, with new evidence presented for the location of this structure on the Acropolis. A development in both application and use of the claw is traced, which posits a gradual increase in the familiarity with and flexibility of the chisel in Athens and Attica over the course of the 6^th and early 5^th century B.C.