Political Change and the Social Power of Potters at Idalion, Cyprus during the First Millennium BCE

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Mediterranean Archaeology: Connections, Interactions, Objects, and Theory" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

On Iron Age Cyprus, the polities are described as "city-kingdoms" that are autonomous, independent, and led by kings. Idalion is one such polity located in the south central region of Cyprus. Using petrographic analysis, I investigated the way craft production was impacted by economic, social, and political power mechanisms to understand the power structures at Idalion through material culture. Idalion’s political order is disrupted by Kition, its coastal neighbor, at least twice during the Iron Age, once about 500 BCE and again at the end of the 4th century BCE. Kition annexed Idalion and consequently Idalion potters lost their primary source of Troodos raw materials. After the approximate 200 years of Kition control of Idalion, only one or two groups of potters regained access to igneous sources. In the first half of the first millennium BCE, potters were able to use their own social power and connections to access raw materials and standardize some of their wares but once political and economic control shifted to Kition, potters had to change their production mechanisms. Political and economic power before, during, and after the administration of Idalion by Kition had immediate and lasting affects on the social power of potters.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Mediterranean Archaeology: Connections, Interactions, Objects, and Theory

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24750