Analytical and Experimental Approaches to Carving Technology during the Cypriot Middle Chalcolithic Period

Summary

In this paper I propose that Lemonnier’s concept of the Chaîne Opératoire, will be of great use in helping to understand technological systems that might have been used to carve the stone, picrolite, during the Middle Chalcolithic period of Cyprus (c. 3200–2700 BC) and thereby providing a new contextual tool in the greater understanding of the society of the time. To approach this I analysed the original artefacts, and att empted to reproduce the tool markings experimentally, to provide insights into the potential tool suites and techniques used in the carving process.

By using 2 low-level binocular microscopes, combined with a digital SLR camera and a digital imagiser I have studied the perforations made in fi ve picrolite pendants. Experiments were then conducted in an eff ort to reproduce these marks. The results suggest that we can begin to hypothesise about the perforating tools and techniques that could have been used in the construction of the original artefacts, and thus begin to understand the Chaîne Opératoire.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• EXARC Experimental Archaeology Collection

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): EXARC Experimental Archaeology Collection Manager

Record Identifiers

ExArc Id(s): 8608

Notes

Rights & Attribution: The information in this record was originally compiled by Dr. Roeland Paardekooper, EXARC Director.