POCA 2014 Abstracts
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14th Meeting of Postgraduate Cypriot Archaeology THE MANY FACE(T)S OF CYPRUS Abstracts Caterina Scirè Calabrisotto (Florence) Palaeodietary Research in Cypriot Prehistoric Contexts: Methodology and Potentialities. A Case Study for Middle Bronze Age Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou Different models and strategies of food acquisition, production and consumption can reveal different technological and cultural strategies within the life of a community trough time, thus hinting at its social organization. Within this context, the importance of a palaeodietary research ranges far beyond the mere reconstruction of past human diet, providing useful data concerning both human impacts on the environment and the cultural behavior of a population, such as food supply and preparation, possible socio-economical and religious differences, possible trading among different communities. With reference to Prehistoric and Protohistoric Cyprus, notwithstanding different contributions to explain the patterns of development of the village-based communities towards more complex entities, palaeodietary studies are still lacking in the current literature. Given its significance, selected key-sites, pertaining to the period from the Late Chalcolithic to the beginning of Late Bronze Age, have been included into a palaeodietary research project intended to reconstruct Recent Prehistory diet in Cyprus. In particular, the focus will be drawn upon two main transitional horizons: the Philia facies at the very beginning of the Early Bronze Age, as well as the transition from the Middle to Late Bronze Age. With reference to the second one, the site of Erimi-Laonin tou porakou is discussed here. The Middle Bronze Age settlement is indeed located in a strategic position, with easy access both to marine and terrestrial resources, thus representing an interesting case of investigation in terms of food strategies and resource supplies. Giulia Muti, Martina Fissore, Alessandra Saggio, Martina Monaco (Turin) Symbols Beyond Work Activity? Towards the Evaluation of Spinning Tools. Significance in Ancient and Middle South Coast Cyprus Spindle whorl assemblages are widely attested in Early and Middle Bronze Age Cyprus. Since their introduction at the very beginning of the Bronze Age (Philia facies), they appear in different functional contexts, settlement as well as funerary. The significant occurrence in domestic and working areas has been straightforwardly related to the important role they played in the textiles chaîne opératoire. At the same time, they possibly have assumed different symbolic values, as grave goods. The aim of this study is to investigate the key values held by decorated spindle whorls in Ancient and Middle Cypriot burial contexts, particularly focusing the South Coast region. The analyzed sites as case studies are grouped according to their locations in the lower river valleys (Psematismenos – Treloukkas, Kalavassos), middle river valleys (Erimi – Laonin tou Porakou, Paramali – Pharkonia) and upper river valleys (Lofou – Koulauzou,). Several scholars (eg. Bolger, Crewe, Smith and Webb) have stressed the symbolic significance of spindle whorls as gender marker, considering their exclusive co-occurrence with female skeletal remains and referring to textile production as an exclusively female domestic activity. Further symbolic traits can be eventually highlighted. During the Philia facies spindle whorls may be considered as one of the innovative elements to be identified with the Philia newcomers habitus, as opposed to the Chalcolithic indigenous communities. During the late phase of Middle WWW.RUB.DE Cypriote period, they could also be connected with an increasing specialization in the textile production. Marialucia Amadio, Francesca Chelazzi, Francesca Dolcetti, Mara Faggi (Turin) Ghost Architecture: Contextualizing Wooden and Perishable Structures from Middle Bronze Age Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou The archaeological research at the Middle Bronze Age site of Erimi Laonin tou Porakou (Limassol District, Cyprus) exposed a variegated range of built spaces, fashioned with diverse building patterns and techniques. This paper aims to investigate the significant role that wooden structures played in the development of built environment during the passage between the late EC and the end of the MC. Excavated data point to a twofold use of wood in architecture: free-standing wooden structures delimiting discrete spaces as well as wooden framing wall structures. The cross-check of archaeological evidences and palaeobotanical datasets from Erimi are examined in a double contextualizing perspective: a nuanced picture provided by comparative analysis of coeval Cypriote contexts is coupled with the palaeoenvironmental modelling to investigate the dynamics connected with the exploitation and use of wood in the built environment. Constantina Alexandrou (Dublin) The Base-Ring Female Figurines in Settlements: Exploring their Possible Function(s) and Life-Cycles During the Late Bronze Age in Cyprus, two local types of pottery were produced; the Base-Ring and White Slip Ware. The family of the Base-Ring Ware includes not only pottery but also anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, all of a hand-made production. The figurines under study belong to this family and constitute the predominant type of anthropomorphic figurines produced in Cyprus during the ca. 15th-12th centuries B.C. Broadly speaking, the handmade terracottas of females can be stylistically separated into two groups comprising both hollow and solid examples: the so-called ‘bird-headed’ (Type A) and ‘flat-headed’ (Type B) figurines. This group of figurines has been found all over Cyprus in domestic, burial and cultic structures. The examination of the exact archaeological context of objects such as figurines has been deemed valuable in the process of interpreting their function(s), role and character. Therefore, the exact archaeological context of the Base-Ring female figurines has been recorded and patterns have been observed regarding their places of discovery, assemblages, modes of discard and state of preservation (fragmentation). The possibility of one type (or construction type) appearing more frequently in the different contexts was also investigated. This paper is concentrated on the evidence deriving from the domestic structures which seems to be the figurines’ main context of use. Melissa Samaes (Brussels) Cultural Entanglements at the Late Cypriot Harbour Town of Hala Sultan Tekke (Dromolaxia-Vyzakia). A Preliminary Pottery Study from the 2011-12 Sondages in Room 19, Building C HST is generally considered as a LC harbor town participating in the eastern Mediterranean exchange network or scholars refer to the site’s particular finds. Little is known however about the site’s social, political and cultural contexts. WWW.RUB.DE In the framework of the post ‐excavation project of HST, a Belgian ‐German team started in 2011 digging sondages (test pits) in building C (area 8) – excavated by a Swedish team in the 1980s – in order to investigate the stratigraphy of the site and the different building phases. The pottery sherds presented here were found in the sondages dug in room 19 of building C. Only diagnostic rims, bases and decorated body sherds were analysed. In particular, three major groups pointing to a LC III context could be recognised: local Mycenaean, Plain wheel ‐made and hand ‐made and Cooking pots. At that time the typical LC I and II wares were already in decline. The case ‐study of the ceramic repertoire of room 19 aims to reveal possible function(s) of the room and to provide chronological markers for the different habitation levels in building C. It offers a preview – albeit concentrated to a specific site context – of the complex course of change in the production and consumption processes of ceramic vessels within the time capsule of room 19. Specific attention will go to the cultural mixtures that can be observed in the morphology of the vessel ‐forms and their decoration schemes, which might shed light on ‘hybrid’ actions. In this way, this study aims to add to a profound understanding of the narrative of HAST and to contribute to the ongoing debate concerning the imported and locally produced Mycenaean pottery in the East Mediterranean. Birgit Schiller (Berlin) Imitation Mycenaean pottery on Cyprus To date, 7 faience stirrup jars, or rather fragments of the same, are known from Cyprus. These vessels were excavated in the Near East, in Egypt and in Nubia. Edgar Peltenburg divided faience stirrup jars into two distinct types: an ‘Egyptian’ and an ‘Eastern Asia’ type, both of which are known from Cyprus. One of the jars belonging to the ‘Egyptian type’, however, differs so much in size, wall thickness and overall quality from the other vessels that I argue for a third, Cypriot, type, inspired by Egyptian imitations. Faience stirrup jars are considered luxury items for trade or as gifts. Cyprus was not only involved with Egypt but also copied these Egyptian imitations. The examination of a faience stirrup jar from Soleb (Nubia) has demonstrated that these vessels were in fact filled with (perfumed?) oil. Furthermore, clay imitations of stirrup jars of simpler execution than the originals (‘simple style’), together with vessels of much poorer quality than the ‘simple style’ were produced in both Egypt and Palestine. The situation is different on Cyprus: Although the island is believed to have been a production center of ‘simple style’-pottery, no vessels of this ware have been found so