Dikomitou, M; (2012) Ceramic production, distribution, and social interaction. An analytical approach to the study of Early and Middle Bronze Age pottery from Cyprus. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis is a multi-dimensional investigation into the technology of Early and Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2400-1700 BC) pottery production in Cyprus, involving physicochemical analyses of raw materials and their processing, their possible provenance and the study of the various stages of the production sequence. In particular, macroscopic examination, optical microscopy, ED-XRF and SEM-EDS were employed for a combined petrographic and chemical study of different ceramic types for the reconstruction of ceramic production traditions, and the inference of possible networks of social interaction between contemporary settlements, as reflected in patterns of ceramic production and provenance. This large-scale analytical project is developed through two case studies. The first is a comparative analysis of Red Polished Philia ware from the sites of Vasilia Kylistra, Philia Vasiliko and Laksia tou Kasinou, Kyra Alonia, Nicosia Ayia Paraskevi, Marki Alonia, Kissonerga Mosphilia and Skalia. The core focus of the second case study is the settlement of Marki Alonia from where various typical ceramic types were analysed for a diachronic technological assessment of pottery production and patterns of ceramic distribution at a single, well-documented settlement. The general impression is that for more than seven hundred years ceramic production was primarily pursued at a local level with only minor imports from larger production centres. The only unambiguous patterns of raw material selection throughout this period are related to the production of Philia and cooking pot fabrics, and ceramic slips. The island-wide network of Philia inter-regional interaction, reflected in a technologically uniform Red Polished Philia ware, broke down on the threshold of the Early Cypriot I period into more regional patterns, reflected in a more diverse repertoire of Red Polished fabrics. A low degree of standardisation in ceramic production reappeared only in the Early Cypriot III period, when some attempts were made at better quality control.

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