Fieldtrip 2009
In April 2009, a fieldtrip was organized by MARI and the Department of Geology in the framework of a VUB-HOA 11 project, which main aim is to study the interaction between man and palaeoenvironment in ancient Cyprus. A part of this project aims to study the provenance of pottery from various Late Bronze Age sites in Cyprus using lead isotopes as a possible tracer. The lead isotopic compositions of the sherds are compared with each other, but also with clays collected in the vicinity of each archaeological site.
During the two previous years, 80 sherds from different pottery types excavated at the archaeological site of Hala Sultan Tekke (SE Cyprus), were analyzed. Their lead isotopic compositions were compared to the compositions of 30 clays collected in the vicinity of thus site. Moreover, around 30 sherds from different pottery types (White Slip Ware, Monochrome Ware and Coarse Monochrome Ware) from Sanidha, a possible production centre of White Slip, were also analyzed. These results raised three main questions: 1/ the assessment of the Red-Lustrous Wheel-made Ware provenance; 2/ the isotopic composition of clays used in Galinoporni and more generally in the Kyrenia range area; and 3/ the assessment of the White Slip Ware provenance.
In order to answer these questions, the HOA11 team collected clays from further areas in Cyprus. The fieldwork was organized the same way as the previous years. Using the geological map of Cyprus, relevant lithologies (i.e. including clays or clayey rocks and sediments) were selected and the most representative outcrops were sampled after having been refreshed. From each samples outcrop, picture and coordinates were taken together with a short description. A total of 49 samples were collected during this 7-day trip.
The 2009 fieldtrip was mainly focused on the Sanidha area. In order to fully understand the previous results and to assess the provenance of the White Slip Ware found at Sanidha and Hala Sultan Tekke, the previous set of samples from Sanidha area was also completed this year.
Earth System Science: A new research group at the VUB
At the VUB, a new research group, Earth System Science is founded. It will closely collaborated with MARI. This appeared recently in the VUB magazine 'Akademos'.
Food in Ancient Cyprus: Lecture by Prof. Michaelides (University of Cyprus)
Praxis II (2008)
PRAXIS II: Practical Training in Material Culture Studies: Macro-Analysis of Ancient Cypriote Ceramics
For the second time a practical training in Cypriote ceramics was directed by Prof. K. Nys and Ariane Jacobs (MARI) and supervised by Ariane Jacobs in September 2008.
Two graduate students (Karmen Middernacht and Sofie Scheltjens) from the Master programme in Art Sciences and Archaeology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and one alumnus (Anne-Leen Stoefs) from Licentiate in Art Sciences and Archaeology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel participated to the four week training which was held at the Kourion Museum in Episkopi (Cyprus). In addition, Caroline Jeffra, an experimental archaeologist (Phd Candidate Exeter University) reinforced the teams project for 1 week, teaching how to identify forming techniques. The training aimed at providing the participants with a Practical Training in Material Studies, in particular a macro-analysis of ancient Cypriote ceramics. Dr. S. Hadjisavvas, Anna Demtriou (Thetis Foundation) and the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus gave permission to study the pottery coming from the Late Bronze Age settlement of Alassa-Pano Mandilaris. The training was funded by the Leonardo da Vinci Agency (Education and Culture - Lifelong Learning Programme), the department for International Relations (IRMO) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Mediterranean Archaeological Research Institute (MARI).
The team spent four weeks working in the Kourion Museum in Episkopi (Cyprus), where the finds of the Alassa excavations are preserved in multiple storerooms. The participants learned to analyze and interpret the Late Bronze Age ceramics. Since pottery makes up a significant part of the total amount of unearthed archaeological finds, it forms an important sign of the material culture of past societies. A better understanding of the ceramics found at Alassa-Pano Mandilaris will therefore lead to a better understanding of the site as a whole. The methods that were used for the analysis are based on international conventions. Consequently, the participants were trained and prepared for future partaking in archaeological work, more specifically in pottery studies. Every day, the team dealt with the investigation of several trays of sherds. First, the diagnostic sherds needed to be cleaned, numbered and mended. Next, all technical information was entered on a recording card, which was subsequently transferred into an Access database. In addition, photographs were taken and drawings were made semi-automatically with the help of the profilograph. The team finished studying all material from Alassa Pano Mandilaris, which was entered in an Acces database, originally set up in August 2005. The team also set up an inventory of the ceramics from Alassa Paliotaverna. In addition, Ariane Jacobs was able to study the material from the tombs in the Limassol District Museum. The preliminary results will be discussed in a paper entitled “Understanding Ceramic Variability: Some techniques of the Alassa Potters” will be presented during the POCA 2008 conference, held at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and organised by MARI.
Fieldtrip 2008
In April 2008, members of the research group MARI and the Department of Geology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel took part in a multidisciplinary fieldtrip in Cyprus. Three action items were carried out in the framework of HOA 11, an interdisciplinary project that examines the underlying dynamics for the changing interaction between humans and the paleoenvironment in the Larnaca Lowlands from 1600 to 1100 BC, based on the integration of geological, archaeological and historical data. The fourth action item focused on the Late Bronze Age Plain wares as part of the PhD research of Ariane Jacobs at Alassa-Pano Mantilaris.
1. Lead Isotopes as tracers in pottery provenance research
(Virginie Renson, Jan Coenaerts, Karin Nys, Philippe Claeys)
Part of the HOA 11 project is dedicated to a pottery provenance study using lead isotopes as a tracer. It means that the lead isotopic composition of sherds is compared with the lead isotopic composition of clays collected in Cyprus, which could possibly have been used as raw material by potters. The first analyses were realized on sherds from the Late Bronze Age site located close to Hala Sultan Tekke and on clay samples collected during the 2007 fieldtrip in the vicinity of this site.
Since the results of these first analyses were promising (Renson et al. 2007), we decided to enlarge the pottery provenance study to sherds from different archaeological sites in Cyprus. Therefore, we went this spring to other archaeological sites (Alassa, Amathus, Enkomi, Sanidha) from which sherds will be analyzed in the coming months, and we collected different types of clays or clayey material in the surroundings of these sites.
For each site, the first step was the visit of the archaeological remains in situ and viewing the site within its environment. Then, using the geological map, we defined the different interesting lithologies (i.e., including clays or clayey rocks and sediments) present in the surroundings of the archaeological site (less than 20 km) and selected some outcrops for sampling. Each outcrop was refreshed before the sampling and then briefly described. A picture and the coordinates were taken for each outcrop. A total of around 100 samples were collected during a few 9 days. Samples will be prepared, analyzed and compared to the sherds in the next months.
2. Paleoenvironmental reseach near Hala Sultan Tekke
(Vanessa Heyvaert, Virginie Renson, Jan Coenaerts, Karin Nys, Philippe Claeys)
Next to the pottery provenance study, a paleoenvironmental research was carried out to reconstruct the history of the coastline in the surroundings of the Bronze Age harbour near Hala Sultan Tekke. The archaeological site is currently located directly landwards from an extensive salt lake fringing the coastline south of Larnaca. The tidal amplitude in the area ranges between 25 and 40 cm.
The Holocene sedimentary sequence of the salt lake is being investigated to 1) detect the topography of the pre-transgressive surface; 2) define the Holocene maximum marine flooding limit; 3) test a hypothetical coastal evolution model of a sheltered marine embayment, with a NE-SW growing coastal spit, progressively isolating a lagoonal environment that progressively became enclosed and evolved into the present-day salt lake.
Fifteen hand-operated cores were drilled in the salt lake (nearby the airport of Larnaca and Meneou beach) using a gouge auger to obtain undisturbed and continuous cores down to a depth of 5-6 m below the surface. A detailed lithological facies analysis of the cores was carried out in the field, and samples were taken for radiocarbon age determination and microfossil (foraminifera and diatoms) determination.
Understanding the depositional evolution on an area requires more than a detailed microfossil and sedimentological analysis of a point-specific site, the spatial distribution, or geometry of the various facies will be elaborated in stratigraphic cross-sections, whereby every subtle change in facies is of importance. Finally, paleogeographic maps showing the evolution of the plain at different time intervals will be produced, taking into account different controlling factors such as relative sea-level change, sediment budget, accommodation space, compaction, neotectonics and ultimately human interaction.
3. Late Bronze Age Tomb 1 (MLA 1173) near Hala Sultan Tekke
(Melissa Samaes & Karin Nys)
At the Larnaca Distirict Museum, Melissa Samaes and Karin Nys studied the content of a Late Bronze Age tomb near Hala Sultan Tekke. The sherds and artefacts were collected by Andreas Savvas of the Larnaca District Museum in 1983. The tomb was found accidentally during the construction of the asphalt road near the mosque. Unfortunately, the tomb was destroyed and plundered, so that all the contextual information is lost. Nevertheless, the collected remains point to an initial rich tomb (or tombs?) assemblage, since they comprise gold jewellery, at least two alabaster vases, a cylinder seal in haematite, a Mycenaean miniature figurine, two ‘Base-ring’ figurines, a vast amount of Mycenaean wares (including several pictorial craters), as well as a large collection of local Cypriote wares.
The analysis of this tomb assemblage will be finalized in the summer and autumn of 2008. The results will be published in RDAC 2009.
4. Late Bronze Age Plain wares
(Ariane Jacobs)
Ariane Jacobs spent a three and a half week study season in Episkopi (Kourion Museum) in order to collect more data for her PhD research. The objective of the study season was threefold:
1) gathering more data regarding the ceramics from Alassa-Pano Mantilaris, with a focus on the Plain ware fabrics and the variation within this family of wares;
2) selecting sherds for scientific analysis and acquiring an export license from the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus;
3) making an inventory of the Plain wares from Alassa-Paliotaverna and preparing a new database (Access) for future work.
Ariane was very fortunate this season to have the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Priscilla Keswani, who was in Cyprus to study the pithoi from Alassa-Paliotaverna and Mantilaris. This collaboration resulted in many interesting directions for future research, such as studying shape variability and intra-site variability in more detail.
The preliminary results are discussed in a paper entitled “Considering the Late Bronze Age pottery variability on Cyprus. A case study: the plain vessels of Alassa-Pano Mantilaris”, which was presented at the workshop “Regionalism in Middle and Late Bronze Age Cyprus” organised by Dr. I. Hein and part of the IVth International Cyprological Congress held at Nicosia from 29th April – 3rd May 2008.
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PRAXIS I
Practical Training in Material Culture Studies: Macro-Analysis of Ancient Cypriote Ceramics
In august 2007, three students (Davina Craps, Karmen Middernacht and Sofie Scheltjens) from the Master programme in Art Sciences and Archaeology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel participated in a three week practical training directed by Prof. K. Nys and Ariane Jacobs (MARI) and supervised by Ariane Jacobs.
The training aimed at providing the participants with a Practical Training in Material Studies, in particular a macro-analysis of ancient Cypriote ceramics. Dr. S. Hadjisavvas (Thetis Foundation) and the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus gave permission to study the pottery coming from the Late Bronze Age settlement of Alassa-Pano Mandilaris.
The training was funded by the Leonardo da Vinci Agency (Education and Culture - Lifelong Learning Programme), the department for International Relations (IRMO) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the department of Art Sciences and Archaeology (SKAR) and the Mediterranean Archaeological Research Institute (MARI).
The team spent three weeks in the Kourion Museum in Episkopi (Cyprus), where the finds of the Alassa excavations are preserved in multiple storerooms. The participants learned to analyze and interpret the Late Bronze Age ceramics. Since pottery makes up a significant part of the total amount of unearthed archaeological finds, it forms an important sign of the material culture of past societies. A better understanding of the ceramics found at Alassa-Pano Mandilaris will therefore lead to a better understanding of the site as a whole.
The methods that were used for the analysis are based on international conventions. Consequently, the participants were trained and prepared for future partaking in archaeological work, more specifically in pottery studies.
Every day, the team dealt with the investigation of several trays of sherds. First, the diagnostic sherds needed to be cleaned, numbered and mended. Next, all technical information was entered on a recording card, which was subsequently transferred into an Access database. In addition, photographs were taken and drawings were made semi-automatically with the help of the profilograph. At the end of the season, more than 1000 sherds received a full treatment, thereby enlarging the database that was originally set up in August 2005.
Of course, the team also took time to enjoy the Cypriote way of living, for example, by starting the evening with a brandy sour and eating grilled haloumi.
This practical training was also mentioned in Akademos.
Archive: Lecture dr Lindy Crewe
"Western Cyprus in the Earrly-Middle Bronze Age: A first glimpse from Kissonerga-Skalia"
Thursday 8 November 2007 at 11.00 in room G 1.023 |
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