Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T18:37:02.312Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seasonality and Site Function in Chalcolithic Cyprus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

David Frankel ,
Jennifer M. Webb  and
Anne Pike-Tay
David Frankel*
Affiliation:
Archaeology Department, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia
Jennifer M. Webb*
Affiliation:
Archaeology Department, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia
Anne Pike-Tay*
Affiliation:
Anthropology Department, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
*
[email: [email protected]]
[email: [email protected]]
[email: [email protected]]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Excavations at the small Chalcolithic site of Politiko-Kokkinorotsos in central Cyprus show that it was occupied around 2880–2670 cal BC. Fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) form the major component of the substantial faunal assemblage. The structure of the animal population suggests a seasonal hunting site, an interpretation consistent with the lack of formal architecture and the range of stone tools. In this study, independent odontochronological analyses of deer and caprine are used to test and confirm the model of seasonal culling in spring and summer based on more general indicators. The results suggest a pattern of varied, specialized site-types and activities in different parts of the island and in different ecological zones, and add considerably to our understanding of cultural systems on the island in the early third millennium BC.

Les fouilles du petit site chalcolithique de Politiko-Kokkinorotsos en Chypre centrale ont montré qu'il était occupé autour de 2880–2670 cal BC. Le daim (Dama Mesopotamica) constitue la majeure partie de l'important inventaire faunistique. La structure de la population animale indique qu'il s'agit d'un site de chasse saisonnier, interprétation en accord avec l'absence d'architecture formelle et avec la gamme d'outils lithiques. Dans cet article, on utilise des analyses odontochronologiques objectives de cervidés et de capridés afin d'évaluer et de confirmer le modèle d'abattage saisonnier de cervidés au printemps et en été, modèle basé sur des indicateurs plus généraux. Les résultats suggèrent un schéma d'activités et de types de sites variés et spécialisés dans différentes parties de l'île et dans différentes zones écologiques, et contribuent considérablement à notre compréhension des systèmes culturels de l'île au début du 3e millénaire BC. Translation by Isabelle Gerges.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Ausgrabungen des kleinen chalkolithischen Fundplatzes Politiko-Kokkinorotsos in Zentralzypern zeigen, dass er etwa zwischen 2880 und 2670 cal BC besiedelt war. Der Damhirsch (Dama mesopotamica) bildet dabei die Hauptkomponente des umfangreichen Fauneninventars. Die Struktur der Tierpopulation legt nahe, dass es sich um einen saisonalen Jagdplatz gehandelt hat – eine Interpretation, die mit einem Fehlen regulärer Architektur und der Typenspanne des lithischen Inventars übereinstimmt. In diesem Beitrag werden unabhängige Analysen des jährlichen Zuwachses von Zahnzement und Dentin (Odontochronologie) von Hirschen und Ziegen genutzt, um das Modell einer jahreszeitlichen Schlachtung im Frühjahr und Sommer, das auf verschiedenen allgemeineren Indikatoren beruht, zu überprüfen und zu bestätigen. Die Ergebnisse deuten auf eine Struktur von verschiedenartigen, spezialisierten Fundplatztypen und Aktivitäten in bestimmten Teilen der Insel und verschiedenen ökologischen Zonen hin und tragen so wesentlich zu unserem Verständnis der kulturellen Systeme der Insel im frühen 3. Jt. v. Chr. bei. Translation by Heiner Schwarzberg.

Keywords

CyprusChalcolithicdeerhuntingodontochronologyseasonalityChypreChalcolithiquecervidéschasseodontochronologiesaisonnalitéZypernChalkolithikumHirschJagdOdontochronologieSaisonalität
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , 2013 , pp. 94 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bolger, D.L. 1988. Erimi-Pamboula, A Chalcolithic Settlement in Cyprus. British Archaeological Reports International Series 443. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.Google Scholar
Burke, A.M. 1993. Observation of Incremental Growth Structures in Dental Cementum Using the Scanning Electron Microscope. Archaeozoologia, 5 (2): 41–54.Google Scholar
Burke, A.M. 1995. Prey Movements and Settlement Patterns during the Upper Palaeolithic in Southwestern France. British Archaeological Reports International Series 619. Oxford: Tempus Reparatum.Google Scholar
Burke, A.M., Pike-Tay, A. 1997. Reconstructing ‘l'Age du Renne’. In: Jackson, L., Thacker, P., eds. Caribou/Reindeer Hunters of the Northern Hemisphere. London: Avebury Press, pp. 69–81.Google Scholar
Carlson, S. 1990. Vertebrate Dental Structures. In: Carter, J., ed. Skeletal Biomineralization: Patterns, Processes and Evolutionary Trends, Vol. I. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, pp. 531–56.Google Scholar
Castanet, J. 1981. Nouvelles Données sur les Lignes Cimentantes de l'Os. Archives Biologiques, 92: 1–24.Google Scholar
Castel, J.-C., Liolios, D., Laroulandie, V., Chauvière, F.-X., Chadelle, J.-P., Pike-Tay, A., Geneste, J.-M. 2005. Solutrean animal resource exploitation at Combe Sauniére (Dordogne, France). In: Maltby, M., ed. Integrating Zooarchaeology, Proceedings of the 9th ICAZ Conference. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 138–52.Google Scholar
Ciuti, S., Pipia, A., Grignolio, S., Ghiandai, F., Apollonio, M. 2009. Space Use, Habitat Selection and Activity Patterns of Female Sardinian Mouflon (Ovis orientalis musimon) during the Lambing Season. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 55 (6): 589–95.Google Scholar
Claasen, C. 1993. Problems and Choices in Shell Seasonality Studies and Their Impact on Results. Archaeozoologica, 5 (2): 55–76.Google Scholar
Claasen, C. 1998. Shells. Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Clarke, J. 2004. Excavations at Kalavasos-Kokkinogia and Kalavasos-Pampoules 2002–3. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, pp. 51–71.Google Scholar
Clarke, J. 2007a. Site Diversity in Cyprus in the Late Fifth Millennium BC: Evidence from Kalavasos Kokkinoyia. Levant, 39: 13–26.Google Scholar
Clarke, J. 2007b. On the Margins of Southwest Asia: Cyprus during the 6th to 4th Millennia BC. Oxford: Oxbow.Google Scholar
Clarke, J., Croft, P., McCartney, C. 2007. The 1940s Excavations at Kalavasos-Kokkinogia and Kalavasos-Pamboules. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, pp. 45–86.Google Scholar
Clarke, J., Todd, I.A. 1993. The Field Survey of Kalavasos-Pamboules. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, pp. 11–28.Google Scholar
Connelly, J.B., McCartney, C. 2004. The Chalcolithic Occupation of Geronisos Island. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, pp. 19–50.Google Scholar
Cransac, N., Maublanc, M.-L. 1997. Facteurs Influençant les Comportements Spatiaux et l'Activité dans une Population de Mouflon Méditerranéen Ovis Gmelini dans le Massif du Caroux–Espinouse: Comparison Entre les Sexes. In: Hadjisterkotis, E., ed. Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Mediterranean Mouflon. Nicosia: Ministry of the Interior Game Fund, pp. 118–30.Google Scholar
Croft, P.W. 1991. Man and Beast in Chalcolithic Cyprus. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 282–283: 63–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Croft, P.W. 1998. Animal Remains: Discussion. In: Peltenburg, E., ed. Excavations at Kissonerga-Mosphilia 1979–1992. Lemba Archaeological Project II.1B. Department of Archaeology Occasional Paper 19. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, pp. 295–316.Google Scholar
Croft, P. in press. Hunting and Dining at Red Rock: Animal Remains from Chalcolithic Politiko-Kokkinorotsos. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus. Google Scholar
Dikaios, P. 1935. Some Neolithic Sites in Cyprus. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, pp. 11–13.Google Scholar
Dikaios, P. 1936. The Excavations at Erimi 1933–35. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, pp. 1–81.Google Scholar
Dikaios, P. 1962. The Stone Age. In: Dikaios, P., Stewart, J.R.B., eds. The Swedish Cyprus Expedition Volume IV. Part IA. Lund: The Swedish Cyprus Expedition, pp. 1–204.Google Scholar
Elliott-Xenophontos, C. 1998. Ground Stone Tools. In: Peltenburg, E., ed. Lemba Archaeological Project Volume II.1B. Excavations at Kissonerga-Mosphilia 1979–1992. Department of Archaeology Occasional Paper 19. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, pp. 193–232.Google Scholar
Focardi, S., Pecchioli, E. 2005. Social Cohesion and Foraging Decrease with Group Size in Fallow Deer (Dama dama). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 59 (1): 84–91.Google Scholar
Francillon-Vieillot, H., de Buffrénil, V., Castanet, J., Géraudie, J., Meunier, F.J., Sire, J.Y., Zylberberg, L., de Ricqlès, A. 1990. Microstructure and Mineralization of Vertebrate Skeletal Tissues. In: Carter, J., ed. Skeletal Biomineralization: Patterns, Processes and Evolutionary Trends, Volume I. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, pp. 471–530.Google Scholar
Frankel, D. 2010. A Different Chalcolithic: A Central Cypriot Scene. In: Bolger, D.L., Maguire, L., eds. The Development of Pre-State Communities in the Ancient Near East: Studies in Honour of Edgar Peltenburg. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 38–45.Google Scholar
Given, M., Knapp, A.B. 2003. The Sydney Cyprus Survey Project. Los Angeles: University of California.Google Scholar
Goss, R. 1983. Deer Antlers: Regeneration, Function, and Evolution. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Grue, H., Jensen, B. 1979. Review of the Formation of Incremental Lines in Tooth Cementum of Terrestrial Animals. Danish Review of Game Biology, 11 (3): 3–48.Google Scholar
Hadjisavvas, S. 1999. Chronique des Fouilles et Découvertes Archéologiques à Chypre en 1998. Bulletin de Correspondance Héllenique, 123: 599–633.Google Scholar
Hadjisterkotis, E.S., Bider, J.R. 1993. Reproduction of Cyprus Mouflon Ovis gmelini ophion in Captivity and in the Wild. International Zoo Yearbook, 32: 125–31.Google Scholar
Held, S.O. 1993. Insularity as a Modifier of Culture Change: The Case of Prehistoric Cyprus. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 292: 25–33.Google Scholar
Held, S.O. 1994. List of sites in or near the SCSP study area. In: A.B. Knapp, S.O. Held & S.W. Manning, the Prehistory of Cyprus: Problems and Prospects. Journal of World Prehistory, 8: 377–453, 332–33.Google Scholar
Keeley, L. 1980. Experimental Determination of Stone Tool Uses. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Klevezal, G. 1980. Layers in the Hard Tissues of Mammals as a Record of Growth Rhythms of Individuals. Report of the International Whaling Commission, Special Issue 3, pp. 89–94.Google Scholar
Klevezal, G. 1996. Recording Structures of Mammals: Determination of Age and Reconstruction of Life History. Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema.Google Scholar
Klevezal, G., Kleinenberg, S. 1969. Age Determination of Mammals from Annual Layers in Teeth and Bones of Mammals. Trans. from Russian by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Klevezal, G., Mina, M. 1973. Factors Determining the Pattern of Annual Layers in the Dental Tissues and Bones of Mammals. Zhurnal Obschei Biologii, 34 (4): 594–605.Google Scholar
Klevezal, G., Pucek, M., Malafeeva, E. 1985. Differentiation of Seasonal Generations of Field Voles on Bone Adhesion Lines. Acta Theriologica, 30: 349–58.Google Scholar
Knapp, A.B., Held, S.O., Johnson, I., Zangger, E. 1992. The Sydney Cyprus Survey Project, First Preliminary Season (1992). Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, pp. 319–36.Google Scholar
Laws, R.M. 1952. A New Method of Age Determination for Mammals. Nature, 169: 972–73.Google Scholar
Le Pendu, Y., Guilhem, C., Maublanc, M.-L., Briedermann, L. 1997. Social Organization of Two Populations of Mediterranean Mouflon (Ovis gmelini): A Comparative Study. In: Hadjisterkotis, E., ed. Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Mediterranean Mouflon. Nicosia: Ministry of the Interior Game Fund, pp. 142–49.Google Scholar
Lieberman, D. 1993a. Mobility and Strain: The Biology of Cementogenesis and Its Application to the Evolution of Hunter-Gatherer Seasonal Mobility in the Southern Levant during the Late Quaternary. , Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.Google Scholar
Lieberman, D. 1993b. Life History Variables Preserved in Dental Cementum Microstructure. Science, 261: 1162–64.Google Scholar
Mina, M., Klevezal, G. 1970. The Principles of Investigating Recording Structures. Uspekhy Sovremennoi Biologii, 7 (3): 341–52.Google Scholar
Miracle, P., O'Brien, C. 1998. Seasonality of Resource Use and Site Occupation at Badanj, Bosnia-Herzegovina: Subsistence Stress in an Increasingly Seasonal Environment? In: Rocek, T., Bar-Yosef, O., eds. Seasonality and Sedentism: Archaeological Perspectives from Old and New World Sites. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, pp. 41–74.Google Scholar
Monks, G. 1981. Seasonality Studies. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, 4: 177–240.Google Scholar
Morris, P.A. 1972. A Review of Mammalian Age Determination Methods. Mammal Review, 2: 69–104.Google Scholar
Nicolaou, K. 1967. The Distribution of Settlements in Stone Age Cyprus. Kypriakai Spoudai, 31: 37–52.Google Scholar
Peltenburg, E. 1985. Lemba Archaeological Project I: Excavations at Lemba-Lakkous, 1976–1983. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 70.1. Göteborg: Paul Åströms Förlag.Google Scholar
Peltenburg, E. 1991. Lemba Archaeological Project Volume II.2. A Ceremonial Area at Kissonerga. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 70.3. Göteborg: Paul Åströms Förlag.Google Scholar
Peltenburg, E. 1993. Settlement Discontinuity and Resistance to Complexity in Cyprus, c. 4500–2500 B.C.E. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 292: 9–23.Google Scholar
Peltenburg, E. 1998a. Excavations at Kissonerga-Mosphilia 1979–1992. Lemba Archaeological Project II.1A. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 70.2. Jonsered: Paul Åströms Förlag.Google Scholar
Peltenburg, E. 1998b. Excavations at Kissonerga-Mosphilia 1979–1992. Lemba Archaeological Project II.1B. Department of Archaeology Occasional Paper 19. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Peltenburg, E. ed. 2003. Lemba Archaeological Project III.1. The Colonisation and Settlement of Cyprus: Investigations at Kissonerga-Mylouthkia, 1986–1996. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 70: 4. Sävedalen: Paul Åströms Förlag.Google Scholar
Peltenburg, E. ed. 2006. The Chalcolithic Cemetery of Souskiou-Vathyrkakas, Cyprus. Investigations of Four Missions from 1950 to 1997. Nicosia: Department of Antiquities, Cyprus.Google Scholar
Peltenburg, E., Thomas, G. 1991. The Context and Contents of the Ceremonial Area. In: Peltenburg, E., ed. Lemba Archaeological Project Volume II.2. A Ceremonial Area at Kissonerga. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 70: 3. Göteborg: Paul Åströms Förlag, pp. 1–11.Google Scholar
Pike-Tay, A. 1991a. Red Deer Hunting in the Upper Paleolithic of Southwest France: A Study in Seasonality. British Archaeological Reports International Series 569. Oxford: Tempus Reparatum.Google Scholar
Pike-Tay, A. 1991b. L'analyse du Cement Dentaire Chez les Cerfs: L'Application en Préhistoire. Paléo, 3: 149–66.Google Scholar
Pike-Tay, A. 1993. Hunting in the Upper Périgordian: A Matter of Strategy or Expedience? In: Knecht, H., Pike-Tay, A., White, R., eds. Before Lascaux: The Complex Record of the Early Upper Paleolithic. Boca Raton: CRC Press, pp. 85–100.Google Scholar
Pike-Tay, A. 1995. Variability and Synchrony of Seasonal Indicators in Dental Cementum Microstructure of the Kaminuriak Rangifer Population. Archaeofauna, 4: 273–84.Google Scholar
Pike-Tay, A. 2000. Seasonality Studies of Archaeofaunas within a Multiscalar Framework: A Case Study from Cantabrian Spain. In: Rowley-Conwy, P., ed. Animal Bones, Human Societies. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 1–11.Google Scholar
Pike-Tay, A., Bartosiewicz, L., Gal, E., Whittle, A. 2004. Body-Part Representation and Seasonality: Sheep/Goat, Bird and Fish Remains from Early Neolithic Ecsegfalva 23, SE Hungary. Journal of Taphonomy, 2 (4): 221–46.Google Scholar
Pike-Tay, A., Bricker, H.M. 1993. Hunting in the Gravettian: An Examination of Evidence from Southwestern France. In: Larsen Peterkin, G., Bricker, H.M., Mellars, P., eds. Hunting and Animal Exploitation in the Later Paleolithic and Mesolithic of Eurasia. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, Arlington, VA, 4, pp. 127–43.Google Scholar
Pike-Tay, A., Cabrera Valdés, V., Bernaldo de Quirós, F. 1999. Seasonal Variations of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition at El Castillo, Cueva Morín and El Pendo (Cantabria, Spain). Journal of Human Evolution, 36: 283–317.Google Scholar
Pike-Tay, A., Cosgrove, R. 2002. From Reindeer to Wallaby: Recovering Patterns of Seasonality, Mobility, and Prey Selection in the Palaeolithic Old World. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 9 (2): 101–46.Google Scholar
Pike-Tay, A., Cosgrove, R., Garvey, J. 2008. Systematic Seasonal Land Use by Late Pleistocene Tasmanian Aborigines. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35 (9): 2532–44.Google Scholar
Pike-Tay, A., Ma, X. 2011. A Pilot Study in Odontochronology for the Pig Domestication Question in North-Central China. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, early view, September, doi: 10.1002/oa.1287.Google Scholar
Rendu, W. 2007. Planification des activités de subsistance au sein du territoire des derniers Moustériens. Cémentochronologie et approche archéozoologique de gisements du Paléolithique Moyen (Pech-de-l'Azé I, La Quina, Mauran) et Paléolithique Supérieur Ancien (Isturitz). , Bordeaux: University of Bordeaux 1.Google Scholar
Rudge, M. 1976. Ageing Domestic Sheep (Ovis aries L.) from Growth Lines in the Cementum of the First Incisor. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 3: 421–24.Google Scholar
Saxon, A., Higham, C. 1969. A New Research Method for Economic Prehistorians. American Antiquity, 34 (3): 303–11.Google Scholar
South, A., Todd, I.A. 2004. Ground Stone Artifacts. In: Todd, I.A., Croft, P.W., eds. Vasilikos Valley Project 8: Excavations at Kalavasos-Ayious. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 71: 8. Sävedalen: Paul Åströms Förlag, pp. 185–91.Google Scholar
Spinage, C.A. 1973. A Review of Age Determination of Mammals by Means of Teeth, with Especial Reference to Africa. East African Wildlife Journal, 11: 165–87.Google Scholar
Stallibrass, S. 1982. The Use of Cementum Layers for Absolute Ageing of Mammalian Teeth: A Selective Review of the Literature with Suggestions for Further Studies and Alternative Applications. In: Wilson, B., Grigson, C., Payne, S., eds. Ageing and Sexing Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, pp. 109–26.Google Scholar
Stanley Price, N.P. 1979. Early Prehistoric Settlement in Cyprus 6500–3000 B.C. British Archaeological Reports International Series 65. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.Google Scholar
Stutz, A. 1997. Seasonality of Magdalenian Cave Occupations in the Mosan Basin: Cementum Increment Data from Bois Laiterie, Chaleux, and the Trou da Somme. In: Otte, M., Straus, L., eds. La Grotte du Bois Laiterie. Études et Recherches Archéologiques de l'Université de Liège, 80. Liège: Université de Liège, pp. 197–204.Google Scholar
Stutz, A., Lieberman, D., Spiess, A. 1995. Toward a Reconstruction of Subsistence Economy in the Upper Pleistocene Mosan Basin: Cementum Increment Evidence. In: Otte, M., Straus, L., eds. Le Trou Magrite, Fouilles 1991–1992. Études et Recherches Archéologiques de l'Université de Liège, 69. Liège: Université de Liège, pp. 167–87.Google Scholar
Thirgood, S. 1996. Ecological Factors Influencing Sexual Segregation and Group Size in Fallow Deer (Dama dama). Journal of Zoology, 239 (4): 783–97.Google Scholar
Todd, I.A., Croft, P.W. 2004. Vasilikos Valley Project 8: Excavations at Kalavasos-Ayious. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 71: 8. Sävedalen: Paul Åströms Förlag.Google Scholar
Wasse, A. 2007. Climate, Economy and Change: Cyprus and the Levant during the Late Pleistocene to Mid Holocene. In: Clarke, J., ed. On the Margins of Southwest Asia: Cyprus During the 6th to 4th Millennia BC. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 43–63.Google Scholar
Webb, J.M. 2011. Central Cyprus in the Early Third Millennium BCE: Problems and Prospects. In: Demetriou, A., ed. Proceedings of the Fourth International Cyprological Congress, Lefkosia, April 29th–May 3rd, 2008, Volume I.2. Nicosia: Society of Cypriot Studies, pp. 755–66.Google Scholar
Webb, J.M., Frankel, D., Croft, P., McCartney, C. 2009. Excavations at Politiko Kokkinorotsos: A Chalcolithic Hunting Station in Cyprus. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 75: 189–238.Google Scholar
Weinand, D. 1997. Increment studies of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from Coastal Georgia. , University of Georgia, Athens.Google Scholar
Whittle, A. ed. 2007. The Early Neolithic on the Great Hungarian Plain: Investigations of the Koros Culture Site of Ecsegfalva 23, County Bekes. Volumes I and II. Varia Archaeologica Hungarica 21. Budapest: Archaeological Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences & Cardiff: School of History and Archaeology, University of Cardiff.Google Scholar