ANOTHER STRAND IN THE WEB. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN NEA PAPHOS AND THE REGION OF NORTH‐WESTERN CYPRUS BASED ON AN INTEGRATED INVESTIGATION OF THE MIDDLE AND LATE ROMAN COOKING POTTERY

Abstract

SummaryThe focus of this paper is the Middle and Late Roman (third–seventh centuries AD) cooking pottery recovered during the excavations at the Agora in Nea Paphos. Macroscopic investigation suggested that a part of this assemblage was imported from north‐western Cyprus. To verify this assumption, selected samples were analysed with thin section petrography and wavelength dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry. The results of an integrated macroscopic and laboratory analysis indicated the presence of two typologically distinguishable groups characterized by the same fabric. Comparative studies suggest that they were likely produced in the area of Dhiorios located in north‐western Cyprus. It was also noted that the cooking pottery vessels characterized by the same fabric were being imported to Nea Paphos already in the first century AD. The continuity of the production and exportation of the Dhiorios pottery suggests the economic importance of north‐western Cyprus throughout the entire Roman period.