Archaeology, geochemistry, and trade of Igneous Rock millstones in Cyprus during the late bronze age to Roman periods

Abstract

AbstractMillstones used in Cyprus between the Late Bronze Age and Roman periods (saddle querns, reciprocally operated hopper‐rubber mills, cylindrical rotary querns, and hour‐glass‐shaped Pompeian style mills) were frequently manufactured from igneous rocks including vesicular lavas clearly imported to the island. Potential sources include volcanics of mainland Greece, the Aegean, Anatolia, Egypt, and the Levant (Syria, Israel, and Jordan). Geochemical analysis using X‐ray fluorescence of thirty‐seven Cypriot millstones showed that sources were used as follows: Late Bronze Age saddle querns were made of Levant lavas and of local Troodos rocks, the later hopper‐rubbers were imported from the Aegean island of Nisyros, a rotary mill was of Santorini lava, and the Roman Pompeian style mills were manufactured from Levant lavas, including sources in north Syria and probably around Lake Tiberias. Millstones were probably exported from the Levant ports of Akko, Tell Abu Hawam, and Laodicea, and imported to the Cypriot towns of Salamis and Nea Paphos.