Research

Ritual or Refuse? Depositional Practices in Wells and Shafts: Late Bronze Age Cyprus as a Case Study

The project aims at a systematic and diachronic analysis of depositional practices and their relation to ritual activities in Late Bronze Age Cyprus (ca. 1650–1050 BCE). It includes the study of all material remains and their contexts with a focus on wells and other shafts to understand these practices as part of the island’s religious and social realm.

Hala Sultan Tekke, Pit B: ochre layer (centre) and locally produced (1, 2), Mycenaean (3, 4) and Sardinian (5) imported table ware (© P.M. Fischer, T. Bürge)

Ritual activities on the island have, so far, mainly been discussed in connection with the scant architectural remains of distinct cultic structures and the iconographic evidence, which is often difficult to interpret. However, ritual depositions have been largely neglected and only rarely linked to social and religious practices. In the light of this research gap, the growing evidence of ritual activities located outside sanctuaries deserves further attention. Given the multi-cultural character of the island, its economic development during the Late Bronze Age and the period of ›crisis‹ around 1200 BCE it will be considered how foreign objects and practices were adopted and adapted to local customs, and whether social, political and economic changes are reflected in ritual practice. In addition, numerous contemporaneous settlements on Cyprus allow the study of regional traditions versus island-specific practices.

Hala Sultan Tekke, Pit V: Mycenaean imported jug (© P. M. Fischer, T. Bürge)

Methods include a contextualisation and evaluation according to the location of the shafts and a possible primary use of the structures, as well as of the material found in their fill, which comprises all artefacts and ecofacts. For instance, stratigraphical analyses, the distribution of matching sherds and breakage patterns may shed light on depositional processes and possible ›ritual killing‹ of vessels and other objects. A statistical distribution of artefacts and a functional analysis may point at activities carried out in the surroundings of the shafts. The presence of prestige items and imported objects and the way they are integrated into local customs may point at the status or social role of the owners or actors. The calculation of vessel capacities provides information on the amount of food and drink consumed before the deposition, whereas the ratio of serving, pouring, mixing and drinking vessels may hint at specific practices of consumption. Furthermore, faunal remains will provide information on the selection of specific animals and their parts and on specific butchery practices. Similarly, the botanical assemblages will be considered. The study will be complemented by analyses of organic residues in pottery vessels, which shed light on the substances consumed.

In order to understand depositional practices as part of the island’s religious and social realm, depositions in distinctive ritual contexts, such as cultic structures or tombs will be compared with the evidence from wells and shafts outside these contexts. In addition, iconographical and other information on rituals will be incorporated. Finally, a comparative chronology of each deposition will enable a diachronic study of continuity and change in this specific practice, and its relation to the economic and social development of Late Bronze Age Cyprus.

 

 

Principal investigator

Cooperation

  • Julie Dunne (Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol)
  • Peter M. Fischer (Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg)
  • Dominika Kofel (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw)
  • David S. Reese (Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History)

Duration

03/2020–02/2024

Funding

APART-GSK fellowship