Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ComPAS (Commercial Patterns Across the Sea: The interdisciplinary study of Maritime Transport Containers from Cyprus and the elucidation of Mediterranean connectivity during the Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age)
Período documentado: 2022-12-01 hasta 2024-05-31
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, used and discarded 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, 1650-750 BC), the visible hallmarks of the flourishing trade between sophisticated states are the Canaanite Jars, Egyptian Jars and Transport Stirrup Jars, produced in the Levant, Egypt and the Aegean respectively. Smaller-sized, precious liquid containers constitute an additional, invaluable means to approach transmediterranean connectivity.
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 research project ComPAS aspires to provide a holistic study of the Levantine, Egyptian and Aegean transport containers encapsulated in the Cypriot archaeological contexts of the LBA-EIA periods, addressing their: 1) morphology and regional quantification, 2) provenance, 3) contents, 4) chronology, 5) capacity and standardisation, 6) manufacture technology, 7) marks and marking strategies, as well as 8) secondary uses and depositional practices. The project further addresses Cypriot finds exported across the Mediterranean, to attain an all-encompassing understanding of commercial and other connections.
ComPAS implements a bottom-up approach and a highly innovative methodology, integrating archaeological, scientific and technologically advanced approaches to illuminate all aspects pertaining to the life-cycle of imported vessels. Acknowledging these ceramic proxies as principal contributors to the study of interregional exchanges, ComPAS’ research agenda aspires to elucidate the transformative character of ancient commerce, and to provide substantial insights on intercultural connectivity in prehistoric and protohistoric Mediterranean.
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, 1650-750 BC), the visible hallmarks of the flourishing trade between sophisticated states are the Canaanite Jars, Egyptian Jars and Transport Stirrup Jars, produced in the Levant, Egypt and the Aegean respectively. Smaller-sized, precious liquid containers constitute an additional, invaluable means to approach transmediterranean connectivity.
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 research project ComPAS aspires to provide a holistic study of the Levantine, Egyptian and Aegean transport containers encapsulated in the Cypriot archaeological contexts of the LBA-EIA periods, addressing their: 1) morphology and regional quantification, 2) provenance, 3) contents, 4) chronology, 5) capacity and standardisation, 6) manufacture technology, 7) marks and marking strategies, as well as 8) secondary uses and depositional practices. The project further addresses Cypriot finds exported across the Mediterranean, to attain an all-encompassing understanding of commercial and other connections.
ComPAS implements a bottom-up approach and a highly innovative methodology, integrating archaeological, scientific and technologically advanced approaches to illuminate all aspects pertaining to the life-cycle of imported vessels. Acknowledging these ceramic proxies as principal contributors to the study of interregional exchanges, ComPAS’ research agenda aspires to elucidate the transformative character of ancient commerce, and to provide substantial insights on intercultural connectivity in prehistoric and protohistoric Mediterranean.
The ComPAS research team has diligently conducted museum visits across Cyprus, the Levant, and Greece for the hands-on, methodological study of imported ceramic vessels. Our targeted studies succeeded to provide a thorough typological classification system and to contextually quantify the imported material from the numerous case-studies addressed so far. The typological classification system provides a framework for understanding the variety and distribution of these vessels, crucial for deciphering the oscillating character of maritime commerce on a diachronic and a broad, regional perspective.
These contextual studies are also a prerequisite for the meaningful implementation of cutting-edge, interdisciplinary techniques, to elucidate the vessels’ provenance, contents, chronology and manufacture techniques, which will be integrated in the following stages of the project.
Our team has compiled a comprehensive reference collection of macroscopic fabrics, and further attained the elemental characterisation of an extended sample-set including sherds and complete vessels, through portable XRF screenings. Our progress in estimating the volume of imported transport vessels, through the employment of manual and digital techniques, is crucial for understanding their capacities and, by extension, ancient commercial logistics. Finally, ComPAS has succeeded to contextually record published and unpublished marks and inscriptions on transport vessels, interlaying them with other parameters examined in this frame. Our unique integrated epigraphic approach sheds new light on the commercial and administrative aspects of ancient maritime trade and its relation to formal scripts.
Researchers of the ComPAS project have presented the results of their research in academic meetings held in Europe, the Near East and the United States, and have produced numerous book chapters, articles and monographs that have been published or are in print/preparation.
Beyond academic outreach, wider dissemination of the project’s research has taken place through various outreach activities, in particular the project’s website and social-media page, targeted educational and age-appropriate activities addressing children, including activities undertaken in the frame of the Researcher’s Night, and advising policy-making agents for the setting of the New Cyprus Museum, an ambitious task that will ultimately address millions of visitors.
These contextual studies are also a prerequisite for the meaningful implementation of cutting-edge, interdisciplinary techniques, to elucidate the vessels’ provenance, contents, chronology and manufacture techniques, which will be integrated in the following stages of the project.
Our team has compiled a comprehensive reference collection of macroscopic fabrics, and further attained the elemental characterisation of an extended sample-set including sherds and complete vessels, through portable XRF screenings. Our progress in estimating the volume of imported transport vessels, through the employment of manual and digital techniques, is crucial for understanding their capacities and, by extension, ancient commercial logistics. Finally, ComPAS has succeeded to contextually record published and unpublished marks and inscriptions on transport vessels, interlaying them with other parameters examined in this frame. Our unique integrated epigraphic approach sheds new light on the commercial and administrative aspects of ancient maritime trade and its relation to formal scripts.
Researchers of the ComPAS project have presented the results of their research in academic meetings held in Europe, the Near East and the United States, and have produced numerous book chapters, articles and monographs that have been published or are in print/preparation.
Beyond academic outreach, wider dissemination of the project’s research has taken place through various outreach activities, in particular the project’s website and social-media page, targeted educational and age-appropriate activities addressing children, including activities undertaken in the frame of the Researcher’s Night, and advising policy-making agents for the setting of the New Cyprus Museum, an ambitious task that will ultimately address millions of visitors.
ComPAS has broken new ground in archaeological research, by taking on a holistic approach that addresses all aspects of a vessels’ life-cycle and by implementing a meaningful array of scientifically and technologically advanced techniques, resulting in methodological innovation. Furthermore, this high-risk/high-gain project encompasses archaeological remains from the entire eastern Mediterranean, spanning a period of nearly a millennium, thus embracing an ambitious geographic and chronological scope.
Our integrated and contextual studies have significantly advanced our understanding of ancient connectivity and trade operations. In addition to the formulation of advanced and integrated typological classifications, our team has compiled a reference collection of macroscopic fabrics, serving as a valuable resource for comparative studies across the Mediterranean. We have also undertaken the elemental characterisation of selected samples, and these analyses will be complemented with the integration of thin-section petrography and Neutron Activation Analysis for the designation of provenance, to contribute towards the elucidation of interregional networks. Our contextual studies have also accomplished a meaningful sampling strategy for the implementation of the interdisciplinary approaches to determine the contents and chronology of selected transport containers.
Innovative elements of the work conducted so far are also the volumetric calculations of transport amphorae, attained through manual and digital methods, which will be vital for the exploration of standardisation practices pertaining to their production, circulation and consumption. Finally, our research has contributed to the disentanglement of the idiosyncratic marking system associated with transport amphorae, shedding light on the interface with formal scribal agencies and commercial strategies, a highly ground-breaking deliverable of our project.
The results of our research have been widely disseminated in a series of presentations by our team members and via the establishment of a seminar series, as well as in a number of issued and forthcoming publications.
Upon the conclusion of our project, and the complete integration of ComPAS’ advanced methodology that encompasses traditional and innovative techniques, we anticipate the development of further state-of-the-art advancements, elucidating interregional commercial strategies and intercultural connectivity maintained by the ancient communities of the Mediterranean.
Our integrated and contextual studies have significantly advanced our understanding of ancient connectivity and trade operations. In addition to the formulation of advanced and integrated typological classifications, our team has compiled a reference collection of macroscopic fabrics, serving as a valuable resource for comparative studies across the Mediterranean. We have also undertaken the elemental characterisation of selected samples, and these analyses will be complemented with the integration of thin-section petrography and Neutron Activation Analysis for the designation of provenance, to contribute towards the elucidation of interregional networks. Our contextual studies have also accomplished a meaningful sampling strategy for the implementation of the interdisciplinary approaches to determine the contents and chronology of selected transport containers.
Innovative elements of the work conducted so far are also the volumetric calculations of transport amphorae, attained through manual and digital methods, which will be vital for the exploration of standardisation practices pertaining to their production, circulation and consumption. Finally, our research has contributed to the disentanglement of the idiosyncratic marking system associated with transport amphorae, shedding light on the interface with formal scribal agencies and commercial strategies, a highly ground-breaking deliverable of our project.
The results of our research have been widely disseminated in a series of presentations by our team members and via the establishment of a seminar series, as well as in a number of issued and forthcoming publications.
Upon the conclusion of our project, and the complete integration of ComPAS’ advanced methodology that encompasses traditional and innovative techniques, we anticipate the development of further state-of-the-art advancements, elucidating interregional commercial strategies and intercultural connectivity maintained by the ancient communities of the Mediterranean.