Hermes, usually placed at house gates or as a marker on roads.
An impressive fi nding is the wooden xoanon, a simple statue,
from the island of Samos, dating to the seventh century b.c.e.
Xoanons were cult objects venerated for the deities that they
represented. Only a very small number of these fragile stat-
ues survive, mostly from waterlogged sites that preserved the
wood.
A variety of materials were used for the construction of
furniture throughout the centuries. Homer (ca. 900–800?
b.c.e.) describes bedsteads, chairs, and footstools with inlays
of gold, silver, and ivory in the palaces of Mycenae. Marble
and stone thrones were reported, and their remains were dis-
covered at the palaces of Knossos, in Crete, and at the palace
of Pylos. Less-durable materials were used during the Clas-
sical Period, and so our knowledge of Classical Period furni-
ture and cabinetry comes mainly from written descriptions
and representations in art. Already by the sixth century b.c.e.
carving wood on a lathe, a technique called turning, was intro-
duced and, together with curving techniques, enabled skilled
craft smen to construct a variety of forms, the principle ones
being the klismós (chair), a light construction for domestic
use, without arms; the threenýs (footstool), in various shapes
and sizes; the thrónos (throne), a more elaborate high-backed
chair for special occasions; the trápeza (table), small in size,
oblong or circular; the cline (couch), used for sleeping as well
as for reclining upon during banquets; and the lárnax (chest),
for storing clothes and bedding.
ROME
BY KIRK H. BEETZ
In Roman society there were senators, knights, members of
the third estate (or common people), and slaves. Craft speople
were either members of the third estate or slaves. Th ey tended
to form guilds, but guilds were not meant to protect their
members or to set standards of workmanship. Instead, they
were intended to be meeting places where members could
gather and mix comfortably together, without worrying
about paying the required courtesies to members of the up-
per classes. Although one might fi nd a guild in a Roman city
or town that encompassed all the area’s metalworkers, it was
more likely that there would be separate guilds for those who
worked in copper, tin, bronze, brass, or iron. A single guild
might take over an entire block in a city, with its members liv-
ing in rooms behind or above their shops, but shops could be
located almost anywhere in a city. Craft speople oft en rented
ground-level rooms in other people’s homes. As Rome grew
in population, the demand for craft ed goods increased. Th us,
over time, a few shops in a town could multiply into dozens,
even hundreds.
Blacksmiths were found in every town and city and al-
most every village. Th ey not only made new items but also
repaired old ones. Th ey oft en sat on low stools while they
worked, using hammers to shape sheets of metal against a
solid stone table. Th ey made iron pieces for joints on carts,
parts of bridles for horses, and weapons; bronze pieces for
utensils, pots, pans, and chamber pots; and copper and tin
pieces for cups and bowls. Almost any man who was not rich
had to know how to hammer copper sheets into basic tools.
Th us, blacksmiths learned to make complex and specialized
metal objects that ordinary people could not make. Th ey
seldom smelted their ore themselves, instead purchasing
ingots. Metal was usually smelted near where it was mined,
using kilns designed to make a powerful updraft of air that
provided the oxygen needed for high heat. Blacksmiths of-
ten enhanced the metal they received by reworking it with
hammering and heat. For example, they could toughen iron
by soft ening it with heat, mixing it with carbon from char-
coal, and then hammering it, turning and folding it on itself,
hammering again, and so on until it was several compressed
layers of iron mixed with carbon. Blacksmiths were oft en spe-
cialists in one kind of metal or even in one kind of tool, such
as medical instruments. Although they worked their ingots
with large tongs and hammers, they used small hammers of
diff erent sizes and shapes, as well as pliers of varying sizes, to
shape and squeeze their metal.
Some stonemasons worked in the actual rock quarries.
Th ey used metal tools to carve out stones of the shape and size
they wanted. Th ey took such care in this work that when the
stones were removed from the quarry, they needed little fur-
ther dressing. Th ey used metal hammers, chisels, and picks,Steatite vase (Alison Frantz Photographic Collection, American School of
Classical Studies at Athens)crafts: Rome 293