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The end of the Bronze Age at Enkomi, Cyprus: the problem of Level III B1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2013

P. A. Mountjoy
Affiliation:
British School at Athens

Abstract

The stratigraphy and the Mycenaean III C pottery of Enkomi Level III B (Dikaios's excavations) is examined on the basis of a new study of the pottery in the Larnaka and Nicosia Museum storerooms. The assignation of the Pleonastic Style (Dikaios's ‘Close Style’) and the Wavy Line Style to different phases of Level III B is clarified. The presence of pottery of Proto-White Painted Ware amongst the Level III B material allows correlations to be drawn with the French excavations at Enkomi (Sols III–I).

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 2005

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References

2 Murray, A. S., Smith, A. H., and Walters, H. B., Excavations in Cyprus (London, 1900), 154Google Scholar.

3 Gjerstad, E. et al. The Swedish Cyprus Expedition. Results of the Excavations in Cyprus 1927–1931, i (Stockholm, 1934), 467575Google Scholar.

4 Schaeffer, C. F. A., Missions en Chypre 1932–1935 (Paris, 1936), 83Google Scholar; Kling, 23.

5 Enkomi-Alasia, 239–369.

6 See Courtois.

7 For an overview of the French and Cypriot excavations see Kling, 23–34, 36–40.

8 Furumark's term III C 1b, ‘Pottery’, 202–9, cannot be applied to the new subphases of LH III C, defined as a result of excavations at Tiryns, Mycenae, and Lefkandi in the :960s–1990s, since it defines a phase which no longer exists. Dikaios's use of the term dates to before the new definition. The new subphases are used here.

9 Dikaios, passim.

10 See Mountjoy, ‘Dating’.

11 For continuity and for the terminology of locally made Mycenaean style pottery in Cyprus see Kling, B., ‘Local Cypriot features in the ceramics of the Late Cypriot IIIA period’, in Peltenberg, E. (ed.), Early Society in Cyprus (Edinburgh, 1989), 160–70Google Scholar.

12 Dikaios, 489, uses the term ‘Close Style’. Since the true Mainland Close Style is a miniature style, MDP 155–6, I refer to it as the Pleonastic Style here. See also Kling, 124. The term was first introduced by Schachermeyr, F., ‘The pleonastic pottery style of Cretan Middle IIIC and its Cypriote relations’, in Acts of the International Archaeological Symposium ‘The Relations between Cyprus and Crete, ca 2000–500 BC’ (Nicosia, 1979), 206Google Scholar.

13 See Mountjoy, ‘Dating’.

14 I prefer to use the terms Level III B Early and III B Late as opposed to Dikaios's Level III B(1) and III B(2).

15 Dikaios, 530.

16 Ibid., 531.

17 Ibid., 529.

18 Blegen, C. W., Boulter, C., Caskey, J. L., and Rawson, M., Troy IV: Settlements VIIa, VIIb and VIII (Princeton, 1958), 142–4Google Scholar.

19 Dikaios, 131.

20 Ibid., 136.

21 Sector E in the east is not included here as no stratigraphy and no LH III C pottery is published from this sector.

22 Dikaios, 148 n.126.

23 Ibid., 6, 66.

24 My survey of a large number of trays of LH III C material from Enkomi has shown that Dikaios has published examples of all representative decorated sherds from each lot.

25 Dikaios, 137.

26 Ibid., 139.

28 Ibid., 148.

29 Ibid., 139.

30 Ibid., 140.

31 Ibid., 149–50.

32 Ibid., 490.

33 Ibid., 140–1.

34 Ibid., 141.

36 Ibid., 150.

37 Ibid., 144.

38 Ibid., 142.

39 Ibid., 114, 115.

40 Ibid., 144.

41 Ibid., 115.

42 Ibid., 144.

43 Ibid., 150–2.

44 Ibid., 618.

45 Ibid., 603.

46 Ibid., 151.

47 Ibid., 199–200.

48 Ibid., 219, table.

49 Ibid., 200.

50 Ibid., 195–9.

51 Ibid., 194–5.

52 Ibid., 194.

53 Ibid., 192–3.

54 Ibid., 195–200, followed by Webb, 232.

55 Dikaios, 210–11.

56 Ibid., 201.

57 Ibid., 489.

58 Ibid., 206.

59 Ibid., pls. 100. 33, 101. 5, 101. 23 respectively.

60 Ibid., 206.

61 No depth is given for this floor.

62 Ibid., 207.

63 Ibid., 190.

64 Ibid., 207.

65 No depth is given for Floor V in Room 41.

66 Ibid., pl. 88. 26, 28.

67 Ibid., 208.

68 Construction of Floor IV at–12.64 and construction of Floor III at –12.40.

69 Ibid., 203.

70 Ibid., 204–5.

71 Ibid., 210.

72 In the orginal publication the drawings are at different scales; for ease of comparison they have been redrawn here at the same scale (1 : 3) as my drawings of the Enkomi (Dikaios), Kition, and Alaas pottery.

73 See Mountjoy, ‘Dating’.

74 Dikaios, 191–2.

75 Ibid., 136–7.

78 See n. 8 for the use of this term.

79 Dikaios cites ibid., pl. 80. 31–40, pl. 81. 1–11.

80 Ibid., 527–8.

81 S. Deger-Jalkotzy, in 11th Century, 23.

82 Webb, 227–8. She notes that the fusion of Near Eastern attributes with Aegean stylistic features is characteristic of LC II C–III A Cypriot iconography.

83 Dikaios, 212–13, 492.

84 Ibid., 219–20.

85 Ibid., 492. The presence of several floors in Area III can no longer be used as a criterion of the length of Level III C, since these floors are Level III B Late.

86 Ibid., 489.

87 MDP 155–6.

88 Dikaios, 489.

89 Ibid., 490.

90 Ibid., pl. 100.16. However, on pl. 306. 145 this sherd is assigned to an earlier phase of Level III A. The same is true of pl. 94. 33, assigned to the destruction of Floor IV Area I Room 14, but on pl. 306. 149 to an earlier phase.

91 Ibid., pl. 71. 23.

92 Ibid., pl. 78. 37.

93 Ibid., pl. 81.

94 Ibid., pl. 101. 35.

95 Ibid., 490 n. 398.

96 Ibid., 282.

97 Furumark, ‘Pottery’, 216.

98 Dikaios, 490.

99 Ibid., 490–1 n. 401.

100 An examination in the Larnaka depot of the sherd from Level III B Early Area I Room 14 Floors V–IV, ibid., pl. 96. 1, which Dikaios cites, ibid., 326, as the first appearance of wavy line, ascertained that it has not a wavy line but a loop.

101 Ibid., pl. 95. 8, 9.

102 Kling, 37; Ionas, 57, 58.

103 Dikaios, 490–1.

104 Ibid., 192–9.

105 Ibid., 196–7.

106 Ibid., pl. 95. 4.

107 Ibid., pl. 95. 4. 338.

108 For this type see Mountjoy, ‘Dating’.

109 Dikaios, 369.

110 Ibid., pl. 95. 6, 7.

111 There is some ambiguity about the existence of Floor II in Room 10. It is not mentioned in the description of Room 10, ibid., 197, but is shown in the table, ibid., 214, and mentioned in the description of Room 9, ibid., 197, and Rooms 9, 10, ibid., 212. It is on the section ibid., pl. 281. 1, but not on the section ibid., pl. 280. 6. In an earlier publication of the sanctuary the floor is present on the sections, P. Dikaios, AA 1962, 14, 16 figs. 8, 9, and is mentioned as being only a slight raising of Floor III, ibid., 23. Perhaps it was put down to cover flood damage. The Horned God, which was found in a pit set down from Floor I into Floor II in Room 10, was first worshipped on the earlier floor in Room 10, that is Floor III with the dumps of bowls.

112 There is almost no real Level III B Late and Level III C pottery published from Area III, apart from a few sherds with wavy line; nearly all the pottery assigned stratigraphically to Level III C, Dikaios, pl. 85, is Level III B Early in date.

113 Ibid., Room 34 pl. 76. 16, Room 59 pl. 76.26, Room 92 pl. 76. 25.

114 These sherds have been seen by M. Iakovou; she agrees with their classification as PWP.

115 Ibid., 326–7.

116 MP 372–5.

117 The closest earlier examples of reduplicated wavy line come from the East Aegean–West Anatolian Interface; they date to LH III A2, Mountjoy, P. A., Anat. Stud. 48 (1998), 39CrossRefGoogle Scholar and 44 fig. 5 (Kos, Rhodes, Troy); also Iasos Benzi, M., B. d. A. Supp. 31–2 (1985), 33Google Scholar fig. 8 c; they have developed in turn from LB I–II Light-on-Dark and Dark-on-Light vases which were probably manufactured on Kos (Mountjoy, art. cit., 41 fig. 3. 3).

118 RMDP, Argolid nos. 438, 440.

119 Ibid., Argolid nos. 441, 448, Furumark, ‘Pottery’, 209 fig. 3. 10, 14, 211 fig. 4. 1A.

120 Caskey, M., in MacGillivray, A. J. and Barber, R. L. N. (eds), The Prehistoric Cyclades (Edinburgh, 1984), 246Google Scholar fig. 4 e, 251 fig. 9 e.

121 RMDP, Naxos nos. 15, 24, 33, 71. Single undulating wavy lines are also common in the Naxian repertoire Naxos nos. 2–4, 26, 38–9, 55–6, 60, 64–5, 72–3. These vessels are dated stylistically to LH III C Middle as they represent unstratified tomb material, ibid., 939; however, a LH III C Late date cannot be ruled out.

122 Meriç, R. and Mountjoy, P. A., Ist Mitt. 52 (2002), 85Google Scholar fig. 3. 11.

123 Kling 37, 81, 83; Ionas, 57–8.

124 Dikaios, pl. 107. 1–34.

125 See Ionas, 50–62 for the correlations.

126 Enkomi-Alasia, 308–9.

127 Ibid., 293, 312–14, 358.

128 Ibid., 312–14.

129 Ibid., 314.

130 Ibid., 316.

131 Ibid., 317, 369.

132 Ibid., 363.

133 Schaeffer, C. F. A., ‘Remarks and conclusions’, in Acts of the International Archaeological Symposium ‘The Mycenaeans in the Eastern Mediterranean’, Nicosia 27th March–2nd April 1972 (Nicosia, 1973), 287Google Scholar, states that wavy line was current on Sols IV–I, ‘if I am right’, but he is talking from memory summing up the conference.

134 Webb, 70–2.

135 Courtois, 200 fig. 46.

136 Also Ionas, 64–5, table 2/1–3.

137 Courtois, 222 fig. 66.

138 Ionas, 61.

139 Kling, 38.

140 Courtois, 220. Below Foyer IV in the South Court a first hearth is mentioned placed on a brown clay floor, which lies on the destruction layer of Sol V, Ibid., fig. 60: U = hearth, T = brown clay floor.

141 Mountjoy, ‘Dating’.

142 Webb, 76–8.

143 Ionas, 61.

144 Webb, 73; Courtois (n. 6), 166 fig. 15.

145 Schaeffer, Alasia I, 525–33.

146 Ionas, 61.

147 Ibid., 62.

148 Ibid.

149 Dikaios, 536.

150 Kition V, i. 266.

151 Kling, 70.

152 Ibid., 78.

153 Ibid.

154 Ibid., 79.

155 Ibid.

156 Ibid., 72.

157 Kition V, i. 278.

158 Ibid., 267.

159 For an overview of the history of scholarship see Iakovou, 4–13.

160 Gjerstad, E., ‘The initial date of the Cypriote Iron Age’, Op. Arch. 3 (1944), 73106Google Scholar, esp. 73–7.

161 Ibid., 75.

162 Furumark, ‘Pottery’, 243.

163 Id., ‘Sinda’, 99–111, 116 n. 3. On the chronological table, ibid., 115, Furumark has listed the appearance of PWP as taking place on Floor II at Enkomi; this floor has much Wavy Line Style pottery.

164 See Iakovou, M., 11th Century, 152Google Scholar; ead., ‘Proto-White Painted Pottery: a classification of the ware’, in Barlow, J., Bolger, D., Kling, B. (eds), Cypriot Ceramics. Reading the Prehistoric Record (Philadelphia, Pa., 1991), 203Google Scholar.

165 Furumark, ‘Sinda’, 114.

166 Dikaios, 494–5.

167 Gjerstad (n. 160), 92 fig. 5.

168 Dikaios, 298.

169 Ibid., 494.

170 Iakovou, 8. Iakovou has not had access to the material from Sols III–I, apart from one or two pieces, such as the bicephalous figures. I thank M. Iakovou for this information.

171 Ibid., 9.

172 Kling, 174.

173 Kition V, i. 266–7.

174 e.g. Furumark, ‘Sinda’, 115, chronological table.

175 Kling, 78, 79.

176 Iakovou, 1 Section 6.

177 The absolute dates given are those suggested by French, E., ‘The impact on correlations to the Levant of the recent stratigraphic evidence from the Argolid’, in Bietak, M. (ed.), The Synchronisation of Civilisations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millenium BC: Proceedings of the Second Euro Conference of SCIEM 2000 held at the Austrian Academy in Vienna, May 28th to June 1st, 2003 (Vienna, in press)Google Scholar. The implications of the recently publicized provisional dendrochronological dating from Assiros for Protogeometric on the Greek Mainland are complex and have not been included. See K. Wardle et al., AEMTh, 2003, in press.

178 Furumark, ‘Sinda’, 115–16.

179 See Iakovou, 9 with references.

180 Ionas himself preferred this correlation, Ionas, 62. In his discussion, ibid., 57–8, he has wavy line appearing in Dikaios's Level III B Early, but on his table I he marks ‘Granary Style’ correctly as appearing in Dikaios's Level III B Late.

181 For a definition of LH III C Middle Phase 1 (developed) and Phase 2 (advanced) see MDP 155–80 and, most recently, French, E., Mountjoy, P. A., and Schofield, E. in Deger-Jalkotzy, S. and Zavadil, M. (eds), LHIIIC Chronology and Synchronisms II (Vienna, in press)Google Scholar.

182 Study of this material was beyond the scope of my present project. Dikaios gave the plain domestic pottery to A. Pieridou, but her MS was not included in the publication for lack of space Dikaios, 825 n. 607.

183 For example, Level III A: amphoriskos Dikaios, pl. 75. 37 Area III, feeding bottle pl. 72. 16 Area I, kalathos pl. 74. 2 Area III; Level III B Early: stirrup jar pl. 99. 18 Area I, kylix pl. 95. 10 a Area I; the latter is cited, Kling, 174, as having triangle on the rim typical of PWP, but an examination of the piece in the Larnaka depot showed it is in fact decorated with wavy line.

184 Webb, 78.

185 Iakovou, 8.

186 Dikaios, pl. 82. 27.

187 Compare, for example, with the ‘Close Style’ krater, ibid., pl. 100. 16.

188 Asine II. 3, passim.

189 Lefkandi I, passim.

190 Mountjoy, P. A., JdI 103 (1988), 137Google Scholar.

191 Compare MDP, LH III C Late figs. 249, 254 with Submycenaean figs. 268–9.

192 The proportions of Subminoan deep bowls, another possible source of influence, are quite different, Coldstream, J. N. and Catling, H. W. (eds), Knossos North Cemetery: Early Greek Tombs (BSA Supp. 28; London, 1996)Google Scholar, ch. 5.

193 Asine II. 3, figs. 9. 67–8, 22. 190.

194 Ibid., figs. 19. 139 a, 36. 358, 56. 499–502.

195 Ibid., figs. 16. 134–5, 21. 183.

196 For example Hood, M. S. F., Huxley, G. L., and Sandars, N. K., ‘A Minoan cemetery on Upper Gypsadhes’, BSA 53–4 (19581959), 241–3Google Scholar figs. 27 vii. 5, 28 vi.A. 1, 2, 29 vii. 4.

197 RMDP, Korinthia no. 217.

198 Ibid., Kos no. 159.

199 Alasia I, fig. 77.

200 For the attribution to sphinxes rather than centaurs see Webb, 75. M. Iakovou informs me that these figures are bichrome.

201 Courtois, 298 fig. 126.

202 RMDP, Attica no. 64.

203 Alaas, Tombs 16/5, 19/4.

204 Courtois, 293 fig. 123.

205 e.g. RMDP, Korinthia nos. 224–8, Messenia nos. 144, 148, Ithaka nos. 17–19, Attica no. 652, Euboea no. 119, Phthiotis no. 33.

206 e.g. Asine II.3, figs. 60–1.

207 Lefkandi I, pl. 99 T. a4. 1.

208 RMDP, Attica nos. 648–9.

209 Ibid., Attica no. 650.

210 Ibid., Attica nos. 609–13.

211 Asine II. 3, fig. 57. 514.

212 Ibid., fig. 58.

213 Ibid., fig. 16. 135.

214 Ibid., fig. 35. 352, 353.

215 Furumark, ‘Sinda’, 115, table, followed by Ionas, 59.

216 Kition V, pl. cxxxix.

217 Ibid., pl. xxix. 178/1.

218 MDP 156.

219 Alasia I, foldout II.

220 For example Kition V, Area I Floor I pl. lv. 98, lix. 266, Area II Floor II pl. cxlv. 103, 1775, Floors II–I pl. ccxx. 88, Floor I pl. ccxxiv. 181, 3666. All have panelled decoration, except 266, 103, 1775, which have lozenge chain.

221 The interior of 37–8 is not described.

222 See RMDP 818 and Phthiotis no. 34 for a parallel.

223 The handle decoration of 48 is not described.

224 Kition IV, pls.vi, xiii.

225 See Iakovou, 34 for this term.

226 Alasia I, fig. 102. 1010.

227 Lefkandi I, pl. 95 T. 15 b. 1.

228 Alasia I, foldout II.

229 Ibid., 166 fig. 16.

230 Ibid., 167.

231 Ibid., fig. 40 and foldout II.

232 Iakovou, 56 n. 6.

233 Alasia I, figs. 134, 136–8.

234 Ibid., fig. 139B.

235 ibid., fig. 140.

236 Iakovou, 31.

237 Ibid., cat. no. 11.

238 M. Iakovou has suggested to me that the low ring base of the vessel could belong to this shape.

239 Alaas, T. 15/1,5, T. 17/2,6, T. 19/2,14.

240 Ibid., pl. xii bottom right.

241 Ibid. T. 17/25, T. 19/3, 4.

242 MDP, fig. 236.

243 Mountjoy, P. A., JdI 103 (1988), 11Google Scholar fig. 8 Grave 15 = Kraiker, W. and Kübler, K., Kerameikos I: Die Nekropolen des 12. bis 10.Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 1939)Google Scholar, pl. 17. 432.

244 A second rim Alasia I, fig. 118A top centre has a straight collar neck.

245 Dikaios, pl. 80. 6.

246 Kling, 148.

247 Dikaios, 316.

248 Kling, 151.

249 Alasia I, fig. 102. 1010.

250 Ibid., on foldout II.

251 Ibid., fig. 77. 1030.

252 Kling, 160, 173.

253 Furumark, ‘Pottery’, 234–7.

254 Dikaios, pl. 215. 5.

255 Hadjisavvas, S., ‘LC IIC to LC IIIA without intruders: the case of Alassa-Pano Mandilaris’, in Barlow, et al. (n. 164), 173–80Google Scholar, T. 6. 2.

256 Dikaios, 283.

257 Kling, 15.

258 For the complete shape see later examples from Area II Floor II Kition V, pl. ccxi. 99, 4330.

259 Alasia I, fig. 18F 1069.

260 For a later version of the shape see Iakovou, figs. 90–2.

261 Kanta, A., The Late Minoan III Period in Crete (SIMA 58; Göteborg, 1980), figs. 118. 2–5, 119. 1, 3, 5–6, 122. 5Google Scholar.

262 Idalion, 189 fig. 46. 1.

263 Alasia I, fig. 1.

264 sketch, A., de La Ferté, E. Coche, Essai de classification de la céramique mycénienne d'Enkomi (campagne 1946 et 1947) (Paris, 1951)Google Scholar, pl. ix. 16, shows the type with deep conical shape and small rim diameter.

265 The interior decoration is not described.

266 Alasia I, 298 fig. 126.

267 Iakovou, cat. no. 19.

268 From the photograph Alasia I, fig. 107 the interior base seems to be reserved.

269 Idalion, 189 fig. 46. 2.

270 Alasia I, fig. 139B.

271 Kition V, pl. ccxi. 1128.

272 Ibid., pl. ccxxv. 723.

273 Alasia I, 166 fig. 15.

274 The pottery from Idalion-Ay. Georghios T. 2, Idalion, 185–99, should also be contemporary with that listed here.

275 Iakovou, 9.

276 Ionas, 62.

277 Dikaios, 298–9, 494–5.

278 Iakovou, 1. The fact that the bicephalous figures from Enkomi Sol II are also bichrome (information from M. Iakovou) is a further indication that some of the Alaas material correlates to this horizon at Enkomi.

279 e.g. the stirrup jars, Idalion, 191 fig. 47. 5–8, have the same motif all round the shoulder, whereas some of the Alaas stirrup jars have one motif between spout and handles and a different motif in the zone opposite the spout, Alaas, T. 17/24, T. 19/23, B5, B7, B9–10.

280 For the date see Mountjoy, ‘Dating’.

281 Called shaft graves by Sjöqvist, E. S., Problems of the Late Cypriote Bronze Age (Stockholm, 1940), 24–6Google Scholar.