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Ceramics, trade, provenience and geology: Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2015

Peter Grave ,
Lisa Kealhofer ,
Ben Marsh ,
Ulf-Dietrich Schoop ,
Jürgen Seeher ,
John W. Bennett  and
Attila Stopic
Peter Grave
Affiliation:
Archaeomaterials Science Hub/Archaeology & Palaeoanthropology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia
Lisa Kealhofer
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology & Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053, USA
Ben Marsh
Affiliation:
Department of Geography & Department of Environmental Studies, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837, USA
Ulf-Dietrich Schoop
Affiliation:
School of History, Classics & Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK
Jürgen Seeher
Affiliation:
German Archaeological Institute, Istanbul Section, 34437 Istanbul, Turkey
John W. Bennett
Affiliation:
Neutron Activation Group, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW 2232, Australia
Attila Stopic
Affiliation:
Neutron Activation Group, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW 2232, Australia
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Abstract

The island of Cyprus was a major producer of copper and stood at the heart of east Mediterranean trade networks during the Late Bronze Age. It may also have been the source of the Red Lustrous Wheelmade Ware that has been found in mortuary contexts in Egypt and the Levant, and in Hittite temple assemblages in Anatolia. Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has enabled the source area of this special ceramic to be located in a geologically highly localised and geochemically distinctive area of western Cyprus. This discovery offers a new perspective on the spatial organisation of Cypriot economies in the production and exchange of elite goods around the eastern Mediterranean at this time.

Keywords

CyprusLate Bronze AgeRed Lustrous Wheelmade Wareprovenienceopen access datamultivariate comparisonNeutron Activation Analysis
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 88 , Issue 342 , December 2014 , pp. 1180 - 1200
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2014

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