Maritime Narratives of Prehistoric Cyprus: Seafaring as Everyday Practice

A Bernard Knapp

doi:10.1007/s11457-020-09277-7

Abstract

This paper considers the role of seafaring as an important aspect of everyday life in the communities of prehistoric Cyprus. The maritime capabilities developed by early seafarers enabled them to explore new lands and seas, tap new marine resources and make use of accessible coastal sites. Over the long term, the core activities of seafaring revolved around the exploitation of marine and coastal resources, the mobility of people and the transport and exchange of goods. On Cyprus, although we lack direct material evidence (e.g. shipwrecks, ship representations) before about 2000 BC, there is no question that beginning at least by the eleventh millennium Cal BC (Late Epipalaeolithic), early seafarers sailed between the nearby mainland and Cyprus, in all likelihood several times per year. In the long stretch of time—some 4000 years—between the Late Aceramic Neolithic and the onset of the Late Chalcolithic (ca. 6800–2700 Cal BC), most archaeologists passively accept the notion that the inhabitants of Cyprus turned their backs to the sea. In contrast, this study entertains the likelihood that Cyprus was never truly isolated from the sea, and considers maritime-related materials and practices during each era from the eleventh to the early second millennium Cal BC. In concluding, I present a broader picture of everything from rural anchorages to those invisible maritime behaviours that may help us better to understand seafaring as an everyday practice on Cyprus.

Highlights

In different time periods and to varying extents, seafaring and the exploitation of marine and coastal resources formed key aspects of everyday life in the prehistoric communities of Cyprus
Cyprus is the only large island in the eastern Mediterranean, and its presence would have been obvious to anyone travelling by sea—especially from nearby Cilicia or north Syria
The sea’s currents and the prevailing westerly winds meant that sailors en route from the Aegean to the Levant or Egypt had to pass close by the island; at least during the Late Bronze Age and in later periods, this ensured that Cyprus became a nodal point in the maritime routes of the eastern Mediterranean (Demesticha 2019; Leidwanger 2020:127–136)

Summary

Introduction

In different time periods and to varying extents, seafaring and the exploitation of marine and coastal resources formed key aspects of everyday life in the prehistoric communities of Cyprus. Comm., March 2020), excavations conducted through 2014 at Kritou Marottou Ais Giorkis—today about 25 km from the sea—produced a total of 982 marine shells, 189 freshwater shells and 9 fossils Another site at Nissi Beach, today situated on a cliff just above the southeast coast, produced marine shellfish remains in two distinct assemblages, one EAN and the other Ceramic Neolithic (Thomas, in Ammerman et al 2017:129–135). As far as the LAN is concerned, there is a notable drop-off in the occurrence of obsidian, Cyprus continued to be involved in the exchange of goods in the eastern Mediterranean and marine resources continued to be exploited This is indicated by a range of different materials, exotic or otherwise, from various sites, and includes the obsidian (at least 57 pieces), some 40 carnelian beads (including a ‘butterfly bead’) from Khirokitia Vouni, and the white marble rings from Kalavasos Tenta (Dikaios 1953:303–306; South and Todd 2005:305–307, Fig. 64). This would represent an unprecedently early date for the purple-dye industry, as Reese (2018:542) notes, the small number of shells securely identified at Pyrgos does not inspire confidence in the notion that purple dye was produced at the site

Discussion and Conclusions

Findings

Minoan cup 2