Figurine Makers of Prehistoric Cyprus

Figurine Makers of Prehistoric Cyprus
Author: Edgar Peltenburg
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 510
Release: 2019-07-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1789250226

The Chalcolithic period in Cyprus has been known since Porphyrios Dikaios’ excavations at Erimi in the 1930s and through the appearance in the antiquities market of illicitly acquired anthropomorphic cruciform figures, often manufactured from picrolite, a soft blue-green stone. The excavations of the settlement and cemetery at Souskiou Laona reported on in this volume paint a very different picture of life on the island during the late 4th and early 3rd millennia BC. Burial practices at other known sites are generally single inhumations in intramural pit graves, only rarely equipped with artifacts. At Souskiou, multiple inhumations were interred in deep rock-cut tombs clustered in extra-mural cemeteries. Although the sites were also subjected to extensive looting, excavations have revealed complex multi-stage burial practices with arrangements of disarticulated and articulated burials accompanied by a rich variety of grave goods. Chief among these are a multitude of cruciform figurines and pendants. This unusual treatment of the dead, which has not been recorded elsewhere in Cyprus, shifts the focus from the individual to the communal, and provides evidence for significant changes involving kinship group links to common ancestors. Excavations at the Laona settlement have furnished evidence suggesting that it functioned as a specialised center for the procurement and manufacture of picrolite during its early phase. The subsequent decline of picrolite production and the earliest known occurrence of new types of ornaments, such as faience beads and copper spiral pendants, attest to important changes involving the transformation of personal and social identities during the first centuries of the 3rd millennium BC, a topic that forms a central theme of this final report on the site.

Prehistoric and Protohistoric Cyprus

Prehistoric and Protohistoric Cyprus
Author: A. Bernard Knapp
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 518
Release: 2008-02-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199237379

A new island archaeology and island history of Bronze Age and early Iron Age Cyprus, set in its Mediterranean context. In this extensively illustrated study, A. Bernard Knapp addresses an under-studied but dynamic new field of archaeological enquiry - the social identity of prehistoric and protohistoric Mediterranean islanders.

An Archaeology of Prehistoric Bodies and Embodied Identities in the Eastern Mediterranean

An Archaeology of Prehistoric Bodies and Embodied Identities in the Eastern Mediterranean
Author: Maria Mina
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2016-10-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1785702912

In the long tradition of the archaeology of the eastern Mediterranean bodies have held a prominent role in the form of figurines, frescos, or skeletal remains, and have even been responsible for sparking captivating portrayals of the Mother-Goddess cult, the elegant women of Minoan Crete or the deeds of heroic men. Growing literature on the archaeology and anthropology of the body has raised awareness about the dynamic and multifaceted role of the body in experiencing the world and in the construction, performance and negotiation of social identity. In these 28 thematically arranged papers, specialists in the archaeology of the eastern Mediterranean confront the perceived invisibility of past bodies and ask new research questions. Contributors discuss new and old evidence; they examine how bodies intersect with the material world, and explore the role of body-situated experiences in creating distinct social and other identities. Papers range chronologically from the Palaeolithic to the Early Iron Age and cover the geographical regions of the Aegean, Cyprus and the Near East. They highlight the new possibilities that emerge for the interpretation of the prehistoric eastern Mediterranean through a combined use of body-focused methodological and theoretical perspectives that are nevertheless grounded in the archaeological record.

The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines

The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines
Author: Timothy Insoll
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 961
Release: 2017
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 0199675619

The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines is the first text to offer a comparative survey of figurines from across the globe, bringing together myriad contemporary research approaches to provide invaluable insights into their function, context, meaning, and use, as well as past thinking on the human body, gender, and identity.

Anthropomorphic Figurines from the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Aegean

Anthropomorphic Figurines from the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Aegean
Author: Maria Mina
Publisher: British Archaeological Reports Oxford Limited
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2008
Genre: Art
ISBN:

This monograph aims to throw light on the construction and enaction of gender in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Aegean, through analysis of a sample of 1660 previously published anthropomorphic figurines. Analysis of poses and postures, decoration and symbolism shows differentiation on gender lines, with hardening of social roles and status in the Early Bronze Age.

Gender in Ancient Cyprus

Gender in Ancient Cyprus
Author: Diane Bolger
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2003
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780759104303

Gender in Ancient Cyprus examines some of the fundamental facets of gender as they intersect with the dynamics of social, political, and economic change in Cyprus, beginning with the earliest traces of human habitation on the island to the final phases of the Bronze Age. The book closely analyzes gender as it relates to the domestic space, technology and labor, ritual and social identity, and the roles of children, as well as the practices of modern day Near Eastern archaeology and the roles of women in it. Visit our website for sample chapters!

Representations of Gender From Prehistory To the Present

Representations of Gender From Prehistory To the Present
Author: NA NA
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2016-04-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1349623318

Focusing primarily on visual forms of representation, but also including material on literary representation, this volume brings together studies as apparently disparate as the iconography of power in Mediterranean prehistory and clothing and cultural meaning in the First and Second World Wars. What draws these chapters together is the common focus on how the scholar of the twenty-first century can pursue the interpretation of past representational cultural production from a gendered perspective. The fruit of research by academics from the fields of archaeology, classics and ancient history, art history and social history, and from both sides of the Atlantic, this volume is a fascinating introduction to a developing field.