Project description
Maritime transport containers in antiquity
Ancient ceramic vessels are proof of significant interactions between raw materials, technological knowledge, and the societies that produced and used them. Maritime transport containers (MTCs) were used to transport goods. MTCs can contribute to the understanding of the multilevel mechanisms driving ancient seaborne commerce in the Late Bronze–Early Iron Age in the eastern Mediterranean (LBA-EIA, ca. 1650-750 BC). However, they remain understudied. The EU-funded ComPAS project will deliver a comprehensive study of the Levantine, Aegean and Egyptian MTCs from the Cypriot contexts of the LBA-EIA period. The project will implement innovative methods to explore the production, circulation and consumption of MTCs and their contents to increase our understanding of LBA-EIA Mediterranean interconnections.
Objective
Ancient ceramic vessels are not merely lumps of clay that were formed and fired to be utilised at some point in the past. They represent vigorous discourses among raw materials, technological knowhow and the societies that produced and used them. In addressing the complexities inherent in archaeological ceramics, we attain an indispensable insight into past communities and the antiquity of our own society. Special-function vessels used in the transhipment of goods, termed Maritime Transport Containers (MTCs), can shed light on the multi-level mechanisms involved in ancient seaborne commerce. In the temporal and geographical context of the Late Bronze-Early Iron Age eastern Mediterranean (LBA-EIA, ca. 1650-750 BC), the highly visible hallmarks of the flourishing trade between sophisticated states are three distinct MTC types: the Canaanite Jars, Egyptian Jars and Transport Stirrup Jars, produced in the Levant, Egypt and the Aegean respectively. Cyprus was a key player within interregional commercial strategies, and its archaeological contexts have yielded prolific amounts of MTCs; however, the lack of a systematic study of these assemblages undermines our understanding of LBA-EIA Mediterranean interconnections.
The proposed project aspires to provide a holistic study of the Levantine, Egyptian and Aegean MTCs from the Cypriot contexts of the LBA-EIA periods, addressing their morphology, origin, contents, chronology, capacity, manufacture technology, marking strategies and depositional practices. The project implements an innovative methodology, integrating archaeological, scientific, and technologically advanced approaches to illuminate the production, circulation, and consumption of MTCs and their contents. Acknowledging MTCs as principal contributors to the study of interregional exchanges, the proposed research will elucidate the transformative character of ancient commerce, and will provide substantial insights on intercultural connectivity in the Mediterranean.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- humanitieshistory and archaeologyhistoryancient history
- social sciencessocial geographytransport
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringceramics
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementcommerce
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Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-STG - Starting GrantHost institution
1678 Nicosia
Cyprus