Pilides, Despina; (1991) Handmade burnished wares of the late Bronze Age in Cyprus. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), University of London.

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Abstract

The first objective of this study is to identify HBW on the various LB sites in Cyprus and to differentiate it from contemporary traditional Cypriot Wares, which are also handmade and burnished, so as to eliminate the prevailing confusion. Although the classification of the local handmade wares known as Monochrome and Coarse Monochrome is overridden with problems, a preliminary discussion only of those varieties chronologically overlapping with HBW, is included in this project; the mere comparison of HBW (fabric and shapes) with local traditional handmade wares will help accentuate the difference between the two. The "idiosyncratic" nature of this Ware was established not only by means of visual observation but also by the fact that no similar fabric is present in contexts earlier than the late phase of Late Cypriote. Neutron-Activation analysis of a number of HBW samples seem to tentatively suggest a possible importation of a few of these samples. Perhaps important for the interpretation of the presence of this ware in Cyprus is its apparent association with the locally made painted pottery comparable to that of LHIIIC middle in Greece. It consistently appears on a number of sites at the time of influx of this pottery; it does not occur on sites where small quantities of locally made painted pottery of Mycenaean styles, probably in transitional LCIIC/LCIIIA contexts, occur. HBW, including some specimens identified as probable imports by the Neutron-Activation analysis, seems to have also been associated with locally made painted pottery with Late LHIIIC affinities. Since this ware seemed to be, at least in origin, foreign to the Cypriote ceramic repertoire and since its closest affinities seem to lie in Greece, where it was found on a number of Mycenaean sites with a possible earliest appearance in LHIIIB, a review of the contexts in which HBW appears in Greece and proposed interpretations are presented, to facilitate a re-appraisal of these views in combination with the new evidence from Cyprus. Do its affinities allow the hypothesis to be formulated that this ware had its origins outside the Mycenaean world and does evidence, such as that of metal, support such a hypothesis or do we have to seek for an explanation in the presence of specialised functions which necessitated such a fabric and those particular shapes to be used? Discussion of the above topics cannot lead to a definite conclusion, as a considerable amount of HBW from Greece remains unpublished and is therefore inaccessible to study but there are indications that if a comprehensive and systematic study of this ware is undertaken, it may eliminate prevailing misconceptions and lead towards a historically valid interpretation.

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