Conference Islands in Dialogue (ISLANDIA). BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

Book of Abstracts 1 Islands in Dialogue (ISLANDIA) International Postgraduate Conference in the Prehistory and Protohistory of Mediterranean Islands 14th, 15th and 16th of November 2018 Università degli Studi di Torino Dipartimento Studi Umanistici Università degli Studi di Torino In collaboration with The University of Manchester Book of Abstracts 2 Main Organisers Luca Bombardieri (Università degli Studi di Torino) Giulia Muti (University of Manchester) Alessandra Saggio (Erimi Archaeological Project) Giulia Albertazzi (Erimi Archaeological Project) Scientific committee Dr Ina Berg (University of Manchester) Dr Luca Bombardieri (Università degli Studi di Torino) Dr Manuel Calvo Trias (Universidad de las Islas Baleares) Prof Maurizio Cattani (Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna) Dr Lindy Crewe (Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute) Dr Helen Dawson (Freie Universität Berlin) Dr Luca Girella (Università Telematica Internazionale Uninettuno) Prof Giampaolo Graziadio (Università di Pisa) Dr Kewin Peche-Quilichini (Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives) Dr Simona Todaro (Università degli Studi di Catania) Prof Carlo Tozzi (Università di Pisa) Dr Agata Ulanowska (University of Warsaw) 3 Organising committee Marialucia Amadio Francesca Dolcetti Martina Fissore Martina Monaco Paolo Tripodi Andrea Villani Graphics Giulia Albertazzi Website islandia2018.jimdo.com 4 LIST OF CONTENTS MEDITERRANEAN MONOLOGUE: Keynote Lecture Island “netscapes”: navigating issues of insularity Helen Dawson (Topoi, Freie Universität Berlin).............................................................................p. 13 DIALOGUE 1: Sailing Off from the Safe Harbour. Maritime Network and Connectivity in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Mediterranean Pre-Neolithic evidence for human visits or settlements on Mediterranean Islands Michael Templer (Independent Researcher)....................................................................................p. 16 Cultural “koinae” and maritime networks in the 4 th millennium Aegean and its adjacent coastland: Mapping the distribution of the material culture and sites' intervisibility through ArcGis Panos Tzovaras (University of Southampton).................................................................................p. 17 “The wind filled the belly of the sail”. A reassessment of the so called “Western String” route Angiolo Querci (Università di Pisa)................................................................................................p. 19 5 Late Bronze Age harbors in Eastern Mediterranean Panagiotis Kaplanis (National and Kapodestrian University of Athens).........................................p. 21 DIALOGUE 2: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. A Second Thought on Mediterranean Interconnection, Dynamics, and the Movements of People and Goods Warriors, sailors and traders across the Sea: a glimpse on Mediterranean islands in the III millennium BC and the Bell Beakers phenomenon José Miguel Morillo León (Independent Researcher).....................................................................p. 23 Patterns of insularity, connectivity, and ceramic interaction between Early Bronze Age Samos, the southeast Aegean, and western Anatolia Sergios Menelaou (University of Sheffield)....................................................................................p. 25 Archipelago nuraghe. Origin, diffusion and divergence of an architectural model of the SardinianCorsican Bronze Age Kewin Peche-Quilichini (INRAP & ASM UMR 5140)...................................................................p. 27 DIALOGUE 3: Face to Face with the Open Sea. Costal Research from Seascapes to Underwater Archaeology 6 Coastlines as storylines: approaching prehistoric seascapes from the experiential perspective Zoran Čučković (Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté)..........................................................p. 30 Seascapes of change: the strait of Sicily in the early 1 st Millennium BC Frerich Schoen (University of Tuebingen).......................................................................................p. 32 Backs to the Sea? Insularity and the ‘international spirit’: the rejection of seascapes in the EB II Aegean? Christopher Nuttal (University of Uppsala).....................................................................................p. 34 The gulf of Olbia (Sardinia): bases and development of underwater and coastal research Alessia Monticone (Università di Sassari).......................................................................................p. 36 DIALOGUE 4: Exegi Monumentum Aere Perennius. Building Monuments to Build Communities Same Sea, different waves? A contextual approach of monumentality in the islands of Mediterranean, 4th-2nd Millennium BC. Antonis Vratsalis-Pantelaios (University of Crete)..........................................................................p. 38 Monuments of cooperating communities: Sardinian nuraghi and sanctuaries Ralph Araque Gonzalez (University of Freiburg im Breisgau)........................................................p. 40 7 Uncovering social changes through the study of sanctuaries in Nuragic Sardinia Valentina Matta (Aarhus University)...............................................................................................p. 42 DIALOGUE 5: No Pot Is an Island. Making Sense of Pottery Production, Circulation, and Imitation across the Mediterranean The dispersal of comb ware pottery in the Aegean and West Mediterranean coasts in the transitional FN-EBA period. Issues of origin and circulation in a dynamic cultural perspective Paraskevi Vlachou (University of Crete).........................................................................................p. 45 Late Bronze Age Cypriot ceramics in Eastern Mediterranean – Selection and circulation Lorenzo Mazzotta (Università di Pisa).............................................................................................p. 47 Social impact of Rhodian imitations of Cypriot pottery in Late Bronze Age Jacek Tracz (Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw)...........................................................................................................................................p. 48 DIALOGUE 6: Land or Shore? Exploring Terrestrial and Maritime Resource Management and Their Socioeconomic Importance for Island Communities Concepts of insularity and maritime identities Mari Yamasaki (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)...............................................................p. 51 8 The agriculture of the Early Bronze Age Aegean. Keros as a case study of archaeobotanical research Dominika Kofel (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences), Carly Henkel (Leiden University), Kiriaki Tsirtsi (The Cyprus Institute), Daniele Redamante (Università di Torino) and Evi Margaritis (The Cyprus Institute)..........................................................................p. 53 Food for thought. An isotopic investigation of diet and subsistence economy amongst Bronze Age Mediterranean island communities Caterina Scirè Calabrisotto (Ca’Foscari Università di Venezia)......................................................p. 55 DIALOGUE 7: Put Your Work in a Pair of Hands. Investigating Tools and Technologies to Identify Craftsmen The A Guaita knapped quartz industry: entropy and subsistence practices in a Cap Corse Neolithic settlement Jacopo Conforti (Università di Pisa)................................................................................................p. 58 Composition and uses of reddish processed stones from Corsican prehistory Maryline Lambert (Durham University)..........................................................................................p. 60 9 Sicilian textile tools from the Bronze Age – a research project to investigate the prehistoric technology of textile production Katarzyna Żebrowska (University of Warsaw)................................................................................p. 62 Reconstructing the Earliest Metallurgy of Cyprus: experimental copper smelting at PyrgosMavroraki Marco Romeo Pitone (Newcastle University).................................................................................p. 64 DIALOGUE 8: Home Sweet Home. Settlements, Domestic Architecture and Dynamics of Dwelling Stone, earth and fire. Living on Pantelleria island 3700 years ago Florencia Debandi, Alessandra Magrì and Alessandro Peinetti (Università di Bologna)................p. 66 Domestic architecture in the Nuragic settlement of Palmavera (Alghero, Sardinia): the Hut 42 Marta Pais and Luca Doro (Università di Sassari)...........................................................................p. 68 Nuragic settlement dynamics: new results from Sarrabus and Ogliastra (Sardinia) Cezary Namirski (Durham University)............................................................................................p. 70 DIALOGUE 9: Through the Looking Glass: Islands on the Verge of Change 10 The last Cypriot ware in Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean. Difficulties and possibilities Proto-White-Painted Ware can offer for ‘Dark Age’ Exchange Systems Kevin Spathmann (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)................................................................................p. 72 Radiocarbon evidence for an abrupt cultural change at the transition of the Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age at the Balearic Islands (Mallorca and Menorca) Guy De Mulder (Ghent University) and Mark Van Strydonck (Independent Researcher)..............p. 74 The silver studded sword from Cyprus, Tamassos T. 12 (CA II), in the Cambridge Fitzwilliam Museum Collection – Iron Age Reflections of LBA hero burials? Christian Vonhoff (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)...............................................................................p. 76 11 Mediterranean Monologue Keynote Lecture 12 Island “netscapes”: navigating issues of insularity Helen Dawson (Topoi, Freie Universität Berlin) The success story of island archaeology is far from linear. While its credentials as an academic sub-discipline were still being heatedly debated in the 1990s, today few would question its reputation as an established subject, with dedicated journals and conferences. Its popularity soared in the 1970-80s, with island biogeography and its systemic approach; it declined in the 1990s, when the idea of islands as “laboratories” was set aside by post-processual archaeologists, only to rise again in the last two decades (which correspond to my own career as an island archaeologist so far), with field surveys and GIS-based spatial analysis, and more recently - network analysis. As each new trend tackled perceived previous shortcomings, where do we stand today and what have we learnt about the past from the islands we study? Navigating across this sea of theory and method presents considerable challenges but studying islands is clearly rewarding, both in their own right and as a key to understanding broader issues. Whether niche-construction or place-making is of concern, islands have much to offer, to biogeographers and phenomenologists alike. To me, islands are ideal case studies for exploring both quantitative and qualitative aspects of space: as well-defined spaces they provide useful units of study, that are not necessarily isolated, rather their inhabitants are often by necessity 13 connected to the outside world. These island “netscapes” expand and contract as islanders establish (or not) links with other communities, with considerable effect on their understanding of their own place in space and time, and ultimately on their insular identities. Island netscapes have multiple spatial, cultural, and temporal dimensions, all of which we need to consider if we are to understand the changing nature of insularity. 14 DIALOGUE 1 Sailing Off from the Safe Harbour. Maritime Network and Connectivity in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Mediterranean 15 Pre-Neolithic evidence for human visits or settlements on Mediterranean Islands Michael Templer (Independent Researcher) If Homo erectus was able to reach the Islands of Java and Flores in the early Early Palaeolithic, we should not be surprised that his European counterparts, or derivatives (Homo heidelbergensis or Neanderthalensis), should have visited or colonised Mediterranean islands. There is evidence for Pre-Neolithic navigation to some of the Mediterranean islands in the Early, Middle and Late Palaeolithic, with ever-increasing evidence during the Post-Glacial into the Early Holocene. We will run through some of the earliest evidence for these island settlement or contacts in the Mediterranean and move forward to the post-Glacial, as the evidence increases exponentially over time, prior to the mass-migrations, contacts and settlements of the Neolithic and beyond. 16 Cultural “koinae” and maritime networks in the 4th millennium Aegean and its adjacent coastland: Mapping the distribution of the material culture and sites' intervisibility through ArcGis Panos Tzovaras (University of Southampton) This study attempts to address lacunae in relation to the long-discussed issue of the Aegean maritime networks and interconnections just before the Early Bronze Age by implementing the ArcGis software in a novel way. In contrast to the majority of the previous scholarship, this endeavour will base its results on tangible evidence indicating long-distance connectivity and exchange, such as the distribution of certain aspects of the material culture. Additionally, all the results will be contrasted against a Cumulative Viewshed Analysis, generating a line-of-sight map of each of the discussed sites, allowing observations regarding intervisibility. Finally, a statistical interpretation of the results will be provided in order to assess the significance of the distribution of the sites in respect to intervisibility. Thus, a solid conclusion will be offered regarding interconnectivity, maritime networks, the formation of spheres of interaction and the crystallisation of cultural affinities as observed in the Aegean Sea and its adjacent coastland and hinterland during ca. 4500/300-3200/100BC. Undoubtedly, the interest in maritime connectivity and seafaring is not new and has been meticulously 17 researched and discussed. Numerous attempts have been undertaken throughout the years so as to conceptualise maritime networks by using traditional and non-traditional methods of spatial modelling without being chronologically or geographically limited. However crucial these endeavours are, the gap in our knowledge regarding the cause of the intensification of interactions and how these networks were formed during the 4th millennium (and possibly earlier) persists. This means that the re-examination of the subject is necessary. After an assessment of the former literature, the context in which this paper is situated with and the case studies being examined will be outlined. Subsequently, an analysis of the research’s rationale will be undertaken, and the ArcGIS outputs will be discussed in conjuction with a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, assessing the hypothesis of the distribution of the sites based on intervisibility. 18 “The wind filled the belly of the sail”. A reassessment of the so called “Western String” route Angiolo Querci (Università di Pisa) The archaeological record suggests that during the Neopalatial period the islands of Crete, Thera, Melos and Kea were involved in a close network of commercial contacts. For the first time, in 1979 Davis in his paper “Minos and Dexithea: Crete and the Cyclades in the Later Bronze Age” called this network “Western String”. Quoting Davis himself, “this network roughly corresponds to the ports of call of the modern ferryboat travelling the Western string route from Athens towards Crete”. This concept, i.e. that the Western String can be considered as a real route, is now so established among the scholars that no one has ever tried to question it. However, it is worth noting that archaeologists often do not have any direct knowledge about the stability and the dynamics of boats. Taking into account the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of discussing about ancient routes without any consideration on wind patterns and boat’s possibilities, this paper attempts to reassess this route considering not only the archaeological record, but also the climatic conditions of central Aegean in ancient times and the seaworthiness of the ancient ships. In particular, the aim of this essay is to try to demonstrate the impossibility of close-hauled 19 sailing during the Bronze Age and hence the necessity to consider the Western String only as a part of a trade network, but not as a real route. 20 Late Bronze Age harbors in Eastern Mediterranean Panagiotis Kaplanis (National and Kapodestrian University of Athens) Since the rise of civilization Mediterranean Sea was, and still is, a maritime crossroad, the place where East meets the West. During Late Bronze Age this particular corner of the world witnessed a spectacular cultural growth thanks to the increased trade relations among the islands and the coastal settlements in Mainland Greece, Asia Minor, Near East and North Africa. This networking was massively developed through the harbors’ installations. But, where were those harbors? Are we able to locate them today and what do we know about them? How did they look like? The present study will address these issues based on the latest information of the archeological and geological research which aims to connect the pieces and create a clear image of the ancient ports. This presentation will focus on the old and new data which indicate the possible existence of harbors in Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Egypt, Syria and Levant. 21 DIALOGUE 2 Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. A Second Thought on Mediterranean Interconnection, Dynamics, and the Movements of People and Goods 22 Warriors, sailors and traders across the Sea: a glimpse on Mediterranean islands in the III millennium BC and the Bell Beakers phenomenon José Miguel Morillo León (Independent Researcher) The Mediterranean has a shared heritage, early as the Neolithic. However, it is necessary to wait until the III millennium BC to observe a recurrent long range intercontact related with the rising of complex societies in Eastern and Western Mediterranean. Hierarchisation can be inferred from both funerary and habitational contexts, with remarkable presence of exotica of vital importance. Shared typologies in symbolic artefacts spread in the whole Basin, from Southern Iberia to Near East. The importance of those exotic raw materials and symbolic artefacts in the social reinforce of the elite discourse would make necessary the development of groups of intermediaries specialized in agency activities, and, together with the increasing importance of the commodities provided by those groups, they will gain a more relevant social role. On the other hand, societies generally keep their own material culture, equally there is no significant break with the Neolithic cultural background, such as the persistence of collective burials. The process that combines at the same time external flows, with the survival of the Neolithic material culture 23 and traditions is especially remarkable in the islands, due to their intrinsic characteristic that combines the character of bottlenecks for geographical mobility with their physical isolation, creating an ideal space to study the interaction between external and internal social factors and contradictions. Our intention in this communication is to offer a theoretical model of this combination of tradition and exoticism that characterize the Mediterranean Chalcolithic, and will be pertinent through to the Bronze Age. The interregional contact performed by those originally intermediary specialist will produce in them a kind shared identity whose main expression is the Bell Beakers Culture. 24 Patterns of insularity, connectivity, and ceramic interaction between Early Bronze Age Samos, the southeast Aegean, and western Anatolia Sergios Menelaou (University of Sheffield) Until recently, stylistic and typological ceramic affinities were considered as the main evidence for the identification of connections between different sites/regions or even the establishment of cultural groups, often simply assumed as the result of trading activities. Tracing patterns of connectivity between islands or mainland areas with islands, and the characterisaton of marginal versus central areas through network and core-periphery theories has been in much favour in past research. Nevertheless, this has largely neglected the significance of micro-scale approaches and what the detailed reconstruction of local developments at a given site can reveal about changing patterns of connectivity and interaction. This paper follows a technologybased, mobility-driven theoretical approach in the light of recent analytical work carried out on pottery from the Early Bronze Age (EBA) settlement of Heraion on Samos. The position of Samos between the central Aegean and western Anatolia provides an excellent case study for a critical assessment of the notions of insularity and connectivity. Samos has been by no means isolated during the EBA, or even in the Neolithic (Kastro-Tigani) and the 25 integrated, mutli-scalar analysis of whole pottery assemblages from Heraion, has provided strong evidence to support such a hypothesis. The east Aegean islands have always been in contact with the Anatolian littoral due to close proximity, location on major maritime routes, and availability of natural resources and were much more than convenient stopovers. Islands held a strong symbolic meaning for the opposite mainland since their colonisation in the Neolithic period and we should imagine that the common experiences created through such a bilateral relationship must have formed a communal identity. Concepts of connectedness and separateness do not provide sufficient theoretical frameworks for understanding the micro-scale histories of islands. Following a ceramic perspective, it is hereby argued that maritime identity in the region of southeast Aegean and southwest Anatolia was constantly transformed to meet social circumstances. 26 Archipelago nuraghe. Origin, diffusion and divergence of an architectural model of the Sardinian-Corsican Bronze Age Kewin Peche-Quilichini (INRAP & ASM UMR 5140) In Corsica, from the origins and the initial development of archaeology as an academic discipline, the sociocultural analysis of prehistoric and protohistoric societies has been conducted from a perspective conditioned by results obtained in continental and insular Italy. Thus, the current periodization of the island’s Bronze Age matches temporal frameworks used in Northern Italy much more closely than those in use in Southern France. In recent years, a critical reassessment of these preconceptions has been undertaken based on a reconsideration of all similarities observed between Corsican and Italic/Sardinian material culture (ceramic, metal and metallurgical productions, architectures) between 1850 and 850 BC, with the aim of assessing the real degree of interaction and stylistic infiltration. At the same time, these data were diachronically mapped to outline the geographical, historical, cultural and technical parameters, of which they are only one form of expression. The results illustrate almost constant relations between these geographical areas, but also show changes over time and in space, which can be interpreted as culturally induced phenomena and as an expression of dynamic network effects. 27 In this paper, we particularly propose a reinterpretation of the relations between Corsica and Sardinia by reasoning from the modes of diffusion of the architectural model of the one-towered (monotorre) nuraghe, a kind of construction common to the two islands at the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age. Specifically, we will try to understand the rhythm of convergence and divergence phenomena brought to light by the chronostructural evolution of these buildings by placing them in perspective with contemporary material productions. 28 DIALOGUE 3 Face to Face with the Open Sea. Costal Research from Seascapes to Underwater Archaeology 29 Coastlines as storylines: approaching prehistoric seascapes from the experiential perspective Zoran Čučković (Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté) Archaeology has long since harboured an affection for islands. Even if the idea of “island laboratory” has received much critique since the 1970s, islands are still understood as small worlds, if not isolated, then at least clearly delimited. However, the concept of island is particularly ambiguous on the Eastern Adriatic coast. Some thousand islands are closely packed along the shore; “island hopping” is, for many purposes, the most efficient way of travelling along the coast. Already by the Early Neolithic, small and remote islands that could not have sustained permanent settlement were extensively used as temporary stopovers. A new reading of the prehistoric Adriatic seascape will be proposed. Rather than thinking in terms of islandcontinent dichotomy, or island-as-small-world, it will be proposed to consider routes and circuits as the basic building blocks of prehistoric settlement. Indeed, the settlement of many small islands has to be understood in terms of seasonal circuits, ranging from the temporary stopovers to permanent settlement dependent on regular exchange. Good indicator of such a system can be found in distribution of prehistoric hillforts, fortified settlements that 30 were the most numerous in the second and the first half of the first millennium BC. These sites sometimes tend to gather on small islands that do not have any particular environmental advantage, besides their position on possible maritime routes. Historical representations of the Adriatic coast (itineraries, maps and especially panoramas of the coastline) are explicit on the importance of ordered sequences of places and sights for the organisation of maritime travel. Prehistoric hillforts seem to have played an important part of this endless sliding panorama, as they are often perched on the horizon line. Such experiential perspective may help us to develop more nuanced and more dynamic models of maritime settlement systems, namely in terms of the settlement in (seasonal) circuits. 31 Seascapes of change: the strait of Sicily in the early 1st Millennium BC Frerich Schoen (University of Tuebingen) During the first centuries of the 1 st Millennium BC the Mediterranean saw major changes. Due to the Phoenician expansion, a stable connection between the eastern and the western Mediterranean was established. Triggered by this process and of vital importance for its further success were supra-local networks of Indigenous as well as Phoenician communities in the coastal and island centers. In this context, the role of islands and characteristics of insularity as discussed in the field of “Island Archaeology,” are of special interest. The Strait of Sicily was the highway for these processes that shaped the ancient Mediterranean world: running between Sicily and Tunisia, the Strait is the waterway that connects the eastern and the western Mediterranean basins as well as the African and the European coasts. At the earliest stages of the Phoenician expansion at the beginning of the 1 st Millennium BC, sea routes between the Levant and the West were established. At the same time, also direct connections across the Strait between the North African settlements of Utica and Carthage, the island of Mozia at the western tip of Sicily and south-western Sardinia, were set up. In a second step the Maltese Archipelago and the Island of Pantelleria, and later also the other islands in 32 the Strait, were integrated into this network. Scholars have long debated the scale of Phoenician expansion in its earliest stages due to the ambiguity of textual and archaeological sources, thus questioning the chronology and expanse of trade networks, migrations, and commercial relations between local populations, foreign settlers, and intermediary traders. Based on archaeological sources from recently conducted archaeological excavations in Carthage and on Pantelleria Island, as well as on theoretical discussion out of the new established interdisciplinary working group “Insularites” in the framework of the SFB 1070 ResourceCultures at the University of Tuebingen, this paper will focus on the role of the Strait of Sicily and its islands in the early development of the western Phoenician world. New archaeological evidence will be introduced to argue that the flow of goods and knowledge as well as migration and communication between the shores of the Strait indicate on extensive sea networks and flexibility in adapting local practices to a changing political landscape. 33 Backs to the Sea? Insularity and the ‘international spirit’: the rejection of seascapes in the EB II Aegean? Christopher Nuttal (University of Uppsala) The archaeology of the Early Bronze Age II (EB II) period in the Southern Aegean (Greece) is dominated by the spectre of the so-called ‘international spirit’ phenomenon. This phenomenon can be described as a period of increased maritime interaction and shared culture over a wider area, in communication via the sea (Renfrew 1972). The concept was applied universally to EB II communities, in which the dominant interpretation was that the search and movement of metals was a primary catalyst. Since then, capitalistic motivations have been put onto the back-burner in favour of more ideological (Broodbank 2000) and embodied (Catapoti 2011) interpretations. These studies notwithstanding, the credence of the so-called ‘international spirit’ as a blanket phenomenon has yet to be thoroughly interrogated. The theoretical underpinning of this study is to interrogate the degree of interaction of a community with the sea through an integrated theoretical approach focusing on the seascape perspective (McNiven 2008, Vavouranakis 2011) and Material Engagement Theory (MET) (Malafouris 2013). This paper therefore seeks to investigate settlements in regions where interpretation of so-called 34 ‘international spirit’ have run wild (Cyclades, Northern Crete), yet do not appear to have taken part in the phenomenon to any large degree. Due to space constraints, the paper will focus on the EB IIA (Keros-Syros culture) phase and three settlements, those of Agioi Anargyroi on Naxos, Markiani on Amorgos and Debla on Crete. The primary evidence base for this study will be formed of: the landscape placement of these communities in relation to the paleo-sea, the viewsheds from the settlement and the range of material culture excavated from these settlements. The paper therefore aims to shed light on the issue of insularity in response to a pervasive social trend and the degree to which these communities ‘turned their backs’ to the sea. 35 The gulf of Olbia (Sardinia): bases and development of underwater and costal research Alessia Monticone (Università di Sassari) In this paper we call “bases” instead of “past” all researches wich have been done in underwater archaeology in the Gulf of Olbia because it feels necessary to put in real dialogue all scientific data already aquired with new (or better only “present”) technologies. This is why we call “development” all the job done to digitalized paper archives and to rediscuss data already published. From these bases to so deepenings in analyzing literary sources, it emerges a very thrilling picture ready to be exposed. 36 DIALOGUE 4 Exegi Monumentum Aere Perennius. Building Monuments to Build Communities 37 Same Sea, different waves? A contextual approach of monumentality in the islands of Mediterranean, 4th-2nd Millennium BC. Antonis Vratsalis-Pantelaios (University of Crete) Monumentality is a key focus point in the study of the Prehistoric Mediterranean island cultures. The massive, sophisticated structures of Malta, Crete, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearics reveal organized and targeted investment of resources and labor, craft specialization and elaborate planning. Therefore, they have been considered as prime examples for the technical, economic and organizational capacity and social structure of the local communities. Viewed either as elite’s seats, redistributive centers, territorial landmarks, or social arenas, the interpretative approaches have shared, more or less, common patterns, but rarely, if ever, have the monuments been examined as parts of the same context. Yet these structures belong in a world of interacting and interweaving communities, drastically transforming in the course of the 4ht-2nd millennium B.C. Their form and architectural sequences reflect the social adaptations of the peoples’ living, producing, exchanging, fighting and coming together across the Mediterranean. This paper argues for an approach that embeds the monuments’ emergence and transitional phases within the 38 wider social, techno-economic and environmental phenomena of the Copper and Bronze Ages. Focus is set on the context that inspired and enabled the social mobilization and coordination required for the construction of the monuments. Through this analytical framework, this study aims to contribute to the understanding of the function, as well as to outline possible common patterns behind the emergence of the Temples, the Palaces, the Nuraghi, the Torri and the Talayots. 39 Monuments of cooperating communities: Sardinian nuraghi and sanctuaries Ralph Araque Gonzalez (University of Freiburg im Breisgau) The Saridinian nuraghi are megalithic drystone towers often measuring up to more than 20 m in height and built with stones weighing several tons. Although their construction must have constituted a serious challenge not only for Bronze Age craftspeople, thousands of nuraghi have been built all over the island with individualistic layouts. The building of a nuraghe brought together specialists and helpers from a number of villages, who where indispensable to the project. It was important that the parties involved had a common interest and performed well as a team. The conventions of the nuraghi as monumental social centres had however been abandoned by the Final Bronze Age and were then replaced by sanctuaries. These monuments had fundamentally different layouts: they were designed to accommodate large groups of people, which featured wells and other hydraulic structures with water as the recurrent liturgical element. It must be noted that the availability of water was crucial problem on the arid karst-island. It is necessary to find ways of balancing interests and dealing with conflict-management for the coexistence of island communities. The construction of monuments created symbolic places of interactions and cooperation that permanently connected all participating communities. These spaces allowed for gatherings, 40 feasts and rituals, all of which maintained and strengthened social bonds. There appears to have been a polycentric structuring of the territory, although this does not imply social stratification. Prehistoric monuments have often been considered to be proofs of hierarchical policies, but this has been due to the lack of recognition of heterarchic ways of organization. This contribution will therefore discuss the possibility that the Sardinian monuments were manifestations of collective cooperation in which a strategy to manage inter-community relations was represented. 41 Uncovering social changes through the study of sanctuaries in Nuragic Sardinia Valentina Matta (Aarhus University) To truly comprehend the socio-economic change of an ancient island society it is necessary first to analyse the inner development and then to investigate the external networks and their forms. While forming part of a European Bronze Age interlinked community, Sardinia saw the development of the unique Nuragic civilisation (1800-730 BCE), named after its monumental stonebuilt towers, so-called nuraghi. However, the evolution of the Nuragic scenery passed through the construction of high and complex towers (1700-1100 BC) to extended villages and sanctuaries in Early Iron Age (900-730 BC). This latter period is distinguished by an increased development of sacred places, which created proper territorial compounds. This new way to occupy the island corresponds likely to a crisis, due to a reorganisation of the society in hierarchical, social and economic terms. In fact, a new social class (similar to chiefdoms) seems to emerge and it appears more attractive and more powerful compared to the previous tribes. Furthermore, the establishment of this new upper class could be related also to the spread of a particular image, mainly formed by horned-warriors, in some case commemorated as semi-divine ancestors. The aim of this paper is to present the first part of my PhD project, highlighting the main characteristics of 42 this particular settlement pattern, looking for a common thread throughout the island. This research chose 13 main sites, all of them characterized by the establishment of a sanctuary and by the discovery of these horned-helmet warriors statues. The use of landscape analysis and GIS software will enhance the possibility of uncovering unknown features within the different territories and fill the lack on this aspect of the Sardinian research. 43 DIALOGUE 5 No Pot Is an Island. Making Sense of Pottery Production, Circulation, and Imitation across the Mediterranean 44 The dispersal of comb ware pottery in the Aegean and West Mediterranean coasts in the transitional FN-EBA period. Issues of origin and circulation in a dynamic cultural perspective Paraskevi Vlachou (University of Crete) The spread of cardial impressed pottery, which was linked to the adoption of agriculture, dates back to the seventh and sixth millennium BC and eventually extended from the Adriatic to the Atlantic coasts of Portugal and South to Morocco. Even broader was the expansion of the much later comb ware that started in the FN/Late Chalcolithic-EBA transition (fourth to early third millennium BC), spread through different cultural entities in Anatolia, the Levant, the West Mediterranean coasts, the Balkans and the Aegean islands. It has not yet received, however, due scholarly attention but is rather underestimated archaeologically and reduced to the general and vague concept of the flow of Anatolian and Near Eastern elements westwards, while information on its character and the reasons for its distribution is lacking. Yet, the time of dispersal of the comb ware was also marked by changes in settlement patterns, pottery production, the crucial technological innovation of metallurgy, as well as intensification of trade – all implying social transformations, and mobility. Cultural geography of comb ware encompasses a broad interactive system, that circumscribes the sea and 45 the coastlines and is stimulated by the spread of copper use. Thus, a more culturally and contextually orientated approach is needed in order to understand the dynamics of the diaspora of comb ware. In this direction, the present paper aims to discuss some of the conditions and interactions involved in the circulation of this pottery in space and time. Central in this approach are the Aegean islands and the west Mediterranean coasts, because of their strategic maritime position and the presence of comb ware there. 46 Late Bronze Age Cypriot ceramics in Eastern Mediterranean – Selection and circulation Lorenzo Mazzotta (Università di Pisa) White Painted, White Slip, Base Ring and Red Lustrous Wheel Made Wares are the four most distinctive ceramic classes produced in Cyprus during the initial and mature phases of the Late Bronze Age, between the XVI and XIII centuries B.C. (Late Cypriot IA – LC II C). These wares were largely exported to different areas of the Mediterranean in a complex network of long distance trade interactions. In the Eastern Mediterranean, the most significant amounts of Late Bronze Age Cypriot ceramics are found in four main areas: Anatolia, especially in the Troad, Hatti and Kizzuwatna regions, along the Syrian coast, in Palestine and in Egypt. The Cypriot ceramics in these areas are far from consistent, both from a chronological, qualitative and quantitative standpoint. The aim of this paper is to compare different Cypriot ceramic assemblages from specific contexts in order to investigate the selective nature of the circulation of Cypriot goods in the Eastern Mediterranean. 47 Social impact of Rhodian imitations of Cypriot pottery in Late Bronze Age Jacek Tracz (Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw) In the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, Cypriot coastal settlements activity made Cyprus one of most important trade centers of the Mediterranean. Thanks to maritime trade, many imported wares started to appear in Cyprus in larger quantities, and in return, Cyprus exported their products to the Mediterranean. Just like Cypriot society was showing their appreciation for exotic imports, like ivory or Mycenaean pottery, many cultures inhabiting the Mediterranean basin showed their appreciation for Cypriot imports, including pottery. One of many places where Cypriot pottery was imported was Ialysos - the important Rhodian trade emporium on the Aegean’s way to Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus itself. Despite the strong Minoan influence, certain Cypriot pottery types like White Slip, Base Ring and Red Lustrous Wheelmade wares were well acclaimed by Ialysos society and were eagerly imitated by Rhodian craftsmen. The key to the popularity of Cypriot wares was the high quality, durability and functionality of the vessels. The local imitations were more accessible for Rhodian society than the Cypriot wares and were produced among other wares in workshops specialized in manufacturing various foreign imitations. Rhodian potters mastered the art of Cypriot shapes and decorations to satisfy the demand of their countrymen with cheaper costs of production 48 and local craftsmanship. Cypriot imitations were popular almost until the end of Late Bronze Age, when specialist workshops ceased to exist. The very existence of this kind of workshops and society’s demand of exotic Cypriot shapes and decorations is evidence of the changes that occurred within Rhodian society during the Late Bronze Age. The purpose of this paper is to examine Rhodian imitations of Cypriot vessels and their influence on the cosmopolitan society of Ialysos . 49 DIALOGUE 6 Land or Shore? Exploring Terrestrial and Maritime Resource Management and Their Socioeconomic Importance for Island Communities 50 Concepts of insularity and maritime identities Mari Yamasaki (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) Relating to the framework of studies which have already focused on the issue of insularity, in this paper I will tackle the topic by examining the relationship between the ancient Cypriots and their sea. In understanding Cyprus in its maritime context, it is important to investigate various degrees of affinity to the sea and maritime perception. On these grounds, I argue that it may be possible to operate a distinction between maritime and non-maritime communities. Through a series of case studies, this paper aims at highlighting the key elements that indicate the existence of a maritime culture and thus whether it is possible to speak of a distinctly maritime culture on Cyprus. I will also evaluate how such a maritime oriented culture may define itself as either diverging from, overlapping with or adding to a land-based culture. Furthermore, taking the case of Bronze Age Cyprus, I will assess how Cypriot maritimity compares with its counterparts in the Mediterranean. Specifically, through the exam of evidence from Cyprus and the from the Levant that can be associated to maritime identities, this study will highlight that a stronger connection existed between seafarers from opposite shores, rather than within the island confines. I maintain that only those engaged with activities on the opposite 51 shores would have had a concept of insularity, as this only acquires sense in relation to the separation from the rest of the mainland. 52 The agriculture of the Early Bronze Age Aegean. Keros as a case study of archaeobotanical research Dominika Kofel (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences), Carly Henkel (Leiden University), Kiriaki Tsirtsi (The Cyprus Institute), Daniele Redamante (Università di Torino) and Evi Margaritis (The Cyprus Institute) Archaeological works conducted since the 1960s at Keros and Dhaskalio in the Cyclades proved that a development of some sites in the Aegean region occurred prior to the inception of urbanisation on the Bronze Age Crete. The research team estimated that more than 1,000 tons of stone had been imported from Naxos and used to build unique monumental buildings at Dhaskalio, which was in the Early Bronze Age a centre for metal production and the world’s earliest maritime sanctuary. Here, in the period 2750-2300 BC, a number of factors combines in a unique foreshadowing of the processes of urbanisation soon to take place elsewhere. Constructing such settlement would have required a significant communal input. Moreover it could not have been self-sufficient, meaning that most food, like the stone and the ore for metal working, had to be imported. Nevertheless, the archaeobotanical studies reveal presence of food traces including pulses, grapes, olives, figs and almonds, and cereals, both wheat and barley. This presentation aims to define and measure changes in agriculture and patterns of consumption related to 53 increased centralisation. Using archaeobotanical remains as proxy, all the available information related to crops and crop processing, storage and consumption activities on site, and the places where agricultural practices took place will be combined and presented. The site was not damaged by later occupation layers. Therefore we can examine the rise and demise of a third-millennium proto-urban centre, which stands out among its peers as one of the largest and most complex sites within a now well-defined site hierarchy. 54 Food for thought. An isotopic investigation of diet and subsistence economy amongst Bronze Age Mediterranean island communities Caterina Scirè Calabrisotto (Ca’Foscari Università di Venezia) Food has always played a central role in human existence. What people eat and how food items are procured, prepared and consumed depends on a complex interplay of environmental, economic and socio-cultural factors that altogether contribute to shape the cultural identity of a community. In this regard, food choices and food-related activities can be considered as a mean of expressing social structures and cultural beliefs. The aim of this paper is to explore issues of diet, subsistence and identity amongst Bronze Age Mediterranean island communities utilising stable isotope data as dietary proxies. Stable isotope analysis of archaeological skeletal material has become a well-established technique for investigating various aspects of past life history, including the reconstruction of past human diet and subsistence strategies. The greatest advantage of the method lies in the possibility to collect information on single individuals, thus informing on the foods actually eaten, and on the existence of possible socio-economic, cultural or political connections between groups. In this case, recently acquired carbon and nitrogen isotopic data from Bronze Age Cyprus will be compared with existing isotopic datasets from other Bronze Age island communities in order to 55 explore dietary patterns across the Mediterranean and examine whether similarities of food practice can be interpreted as similarities of identity. 56 DIALOGUE 7 Put Your Work in a Pair of Hands. Investigating Tools and Technologies to Identify Craftsmen 57 The A Guaita knapped quartz industry: entropy and subsistence practices in a Cap Corse Neolithic settlement Jacopo Conforti (Università di Pisa) Scarcity and difficult access to good quality knapped lithic resources has stimulated the Corse Neolithic groups to produce original answers in order to overcome this shortage. These groups have systematically used all lithic resources available, regardless of knapping attitude, if these were widely available and easily accessible. Quartz is the only raw material really available across the island from North to South, used by all Corse Neolithic groups (although with very different percentages), between the 6 th and the 3rd millennium BC. A Guaita (Morsiglia, Haute-Corse) has given back important evidences of a long frequentation during the Neolithic, between the end of the 6th-first half of the 5th millennium BC and the 4th millennium BC. The analysis of ceramics, knapped and not-knapped lithic industry, show the inclusion of A Guaita in the longdistance traffic system between Sardinia and Italian peninsula. The knapped lithic industry, during all Neolithc frequentation phases, shows the prevalence of the quartz, collected in the same area of the village or in its immediate vicinity. 58 Quartz has been generally exploited by opportunistic techniques to maximize the exploitation and obtain supports essentially used for their naturally sharp edges. The analysis of the few retouched artifacts and the percentage variation of lamellar products show that even the knapped quartz industry, usually poorly considered, reflects the differences choices of the groups that inhabited the site during the Neolithic. 59 Composition and uses of reddish processed stones from Corsican prehistory Maryline Lambert (Durham University) Special attention has recently been given to haematite artefacts in prehistoric an protohistoric Corsica. Testimonies abound both in domestic and burial contexts from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age at the scale of the island. These objects essentially consist in a large number of processed blocks which bear grinding traces. Taking into account the challenges of characterising iron-oxhide rich materials, we employ a multi-technique approach (ICP-MS, PIXE, SEM-EDX, XRF, XRD and petrography) which includes highly sensitive methods to tackle the question of quantifying trace elements and spotting unique signatures. Current geological prospections allow gathering new data and enable distinguishing potential compatible sources and stimulate the debate on the geographical and chronological variations in the procurement patterns during pre and protohistory. In this study, raw materials from North and South Corsica and Sardinia are examined in combination with artefacts from ten sites across Corsica. In complement to the chemical characterisation, we also discuss aspects related to the use and transformation of the blocks through a quantitative assessment of their use-wear traces. On top of the pigmenting properties 60 of these stones, their role and value for Bronze and Iron age communities are further explored. This is joint work with R. Skeates, F. -X le Bourdonnec, K. Peche-Quilichini, H. Paolini-Saez, J.-L. Milanini, P. Comiti, J. Graziani, I. Shyha, C. Ottley, J. Cesari. 61 Sicilian textile tools from the Bronze Age – a research project to investigate the prehistoric technology of textile production Katarzyna Żebrowska (University of Warsaw) In the last decades archaeological textile tools have been the subject of numerous studies contributing to our knowledge about the prehistoric technology of textile production. However, from the island archaeology perspective, it is true only for the eastern Mediterranean region. The Sicilian Bronze Age (c. 2200-850 BC) repertoire of textile tools, for instance, has never been put under a thorough examination and remains largely unpublished, while in the case of this island it is the unique source of information about textile manufacture, especially important since no end product, i.e. fragments of cloth, was preserved from this area and epoch, and comparative material (iconographic and written documents) is lacking as well. The ongoing research project “Sicilian Textile Tools from the Bronze Age: Examination of Finds and Comparative Studies on Their Functionality” was designed to fulfil this informational gap and deliver new data about the technological advancement of the craft and textile production possibilities through the examination of finds, analysis of their functional parameters, and creation of a framework typology of tools. The project also tackles the issues of tools specialization and/or standardization, potential external influence on textile tools and craft, the 62 organization of production, also in relation to space, labour division, and craft specialization. The aim of this paper is thus to present the preliminary results of almost two years of research conducted on archaeological textile tools, mainly clay spindle whorls, but also spools and loom weights, unearthed on a number of Bronze Age sites across the island, as well as in the neighbouring Aeolian Archipelago. 63 Reconstructing the Earliest Metallurgy of Cyprus: experimental copper smelting at Pyrgos-Mavroraki Marco Romeo Pitone (Newcastle University) The most ancient metal objects found in Cyprus consist of a few Chalcolithic copper artefacts, but the very first archaeological record of metallurgical activities is dated only to the Early/Middle Bronze Age. While in the Late Bronze Age the processing of metals becomes more organised and the workshops archaeologically more recognisable, the amount of traces of metallurgical activity from Early/Middle Bronze Age sites remains exiguous. The site of Pyrgos-Mavroraki (Limassol – Cyprus), an early 2nd millennium BC proto-industrial settlement, is today the only known case for this chronological and geographical context, from where all the main metallurgical features (slags, crucibles, moulds, furnaces, anvils, nozzles) have been found, and it might shed light on the technology employed in the earliest metallurgy of Cyprus. 64 DIALOGUE 8 Home Sweet Home. Settlements, Domestic Architecture and Dynamics of Dwelling 65 Stone, earth and fire. Living on Pantelleria island 3700 years ago Florencia Debandi, Alessandra Magrì and Alessandro Peinetti (Università di Bologna) The fortified settlement of Mursia (Pantelleria, Trapani), is one of the most important Bronze Age archaeological contexts in Central Mediterranean, due to the exceptional conservation conditions and to the quality of the stratigraphic record. The excavation in sector B, carried out by the University of Bologna since 2001, allowed the identification of about twenty domestic units distributed over a period of at least three centuries (1750-1450 BC). The stratigraphic sequence of the dwellings enabled to recognize an uninterrupted occupation articulated in three main phases, with several renovation works or with temporary change of use. Recent excavations carried out in sectors E and F, located next to the monumental perimeter wall that encloses the village in the inner side, provide more data about the organization of the inhabited space during the final stages of the settlement. Through the archaeological and micromorfological analysis of the construction techniques of the dwellings and their internal articulation (domestic and productive installations), we intend to provide an overview of the settlement and to propose the use of space as a mean to analyze the social identity. 66 Most of the domestic units are equipped with installations that can be easily analyzed in order to suggest the functional interpretation of the space. Among them there are different kinds of fire-structures, such as cooking platforms, hearths constructed with four stone slabs and ovens. There are also some features devoted to production activities. A particular case is a bipartite dwelling with two presses probably connected to the production of oil or wine. The different use of space and building techniques over time, together with the material culture, suggest real changes in the social and economic sphere that allow a better understanding of the identity of the Mursia community compared to other Mediterranean contexts. 67 Domestic architecture in the Nuragic settlement of Palmavera (Alghero, Sardinia): the Hut 42 Marta Pais and Luca Doro (Università di Sassari) The archaeological site of Palmavera, located in the north-western Sardinia (Alghero, Sassari), is chronologically referable between the Middle Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age (1800-1700 BC). As attested in other Nuragic contexts, Palmavera is marked by the presence of a complex nuraghe surrounded by an extended village of circular huts. The latest excavations, carried out by the University of Sassari, with the scientific direction of Prof. Alberto Moravetti,, aimed to investigate forms of housing and cultural expressions attested in this archaeological site. The preliminary study of the situation evidenced in the Hut 42 offers interesting points of considerations for the functional use of the space during different stages of this domestic architecture during the Bronze Age. In particular, we would like to focus on the discovery of several earthen elements found in different sections of the hut: in particular, the major concentration in the central area could probably suggest the presence of a structured earthen architecture, but its functional interpretation is still problematic. It is also important to highlight that the discovery of these kind of artefacts represents the first proof of the 68 use of earth ad building material in the north-western area of the Nuragic Sardinia. The detailed examination of stratigraphic data together with the study of the ensemble of materials (ceramics and earthen elements) and the information provided by archaeometric analysis could help us understanding the organisation and the use of the space of the Hut 42. 69 Nuragic settlement dynamics: new results from Sarrabus and Ogliastra (Sardinia) Cezary Namirski (Durham University) Diversity of Nuragic settlement patterns, ranging from clusters of nuraghi with buffer zones (Sedilo- Bonzani 1992), through occupation on the edges of highland plateaus (Giara di Serri, Puddu 2001) to dispersed occupation (Gallura, Puggioni 2009), points towards landscape archaeology as one of the major means of studying the development of Nuragic settlement and society in Sardinia. The paper is be based on the analysis of a dataset gathered through a series of site-based landscape surveys conducted by the author in two sample areas of the east coast of the island – Muravera-Castiadas (Sarrabus), and Barisardo-Cardedu (Ogliastra) – which resulted in detailed documentation of the Nuragic sites in both selected areas. The research allowed to draw conclusions in regard to the development of Bronze Age settlement network in these areas, relationships between settlement and ritual sites, as well as the use of coastline in the Nuragic period. Among the major observations are significant differences between both sample areas, presence of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age sanctuaries and evidence for territoriality. The results will be compared to those from other parts of the island, and placed in a wider context of the Bronze Age settlement dynamics in the Central Mediterranean. 70 DIALOGUE 9 Through the Looking Glass: Islands on the Verge of Change 71 The last Cypriot ware in Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean. Difficulties and possibilities Proto-White-Painted Ware can offer for ‘Dark Age’ Exchange Systems Kevin Spathmann (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) The so-called ‘Dark Ages’ at the end of the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age are said to be characterised by an almost complete ‘collapse’ of any exchange and trade systems which flourished from the Middle Bronze Age onwards from East to West and vice versa. In the last few decades it was often indicated, that archaeologists should not underestimate the continuous relations between Cyprus and the Levantine coast during the 12th and 10th cent BCE. The current research of my Ph.D.-thesis focuses on Cypriote and Cypriote-like pottery material found for example in the harbour-city of ancient Sidon (modern Ṣaydā) and which role it could have played for knowledge transmissions systems. One of the most interesting wares discovered there is the so-called Proto-White-Painted-Ware, which assumed to be the last invention in ceramics on Bronze Age Cyprus and was only meagrely distributed to other places according to most scholars. Primary influences from the (post-)Mycenaean Aegean in visual appearance are mainly said to be typical for this type of ware. Such indications lead to thoughts of an Aegean ‘colonisation’ of Cyprus at the end of the Bronze Age with the ‘fall of Mycenaean kingdoms’. But from a technological viewpoint there is 72 still a strong connection to former Cypriot wares like the White-Painted-Wheelmade III of the LC III A era. Now with a few new examples taken from the Levantine coast which point to a relative uninterrupted ‘connectivity-net’ between the island and the surrounding coasts at the end of the Bronze and beginnings of Iron Age, we can try to reconstruct points and edges of this network more closely and eventually be more precise about said networks. 73 Radiocarbon evidence for an abrupt cultural change at the transition of the Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age at the Balearic Islands (Mallorca and Menorca) Guy De Mulder (Ghent University) and Mark Van Strydonck (Independent Researcher) Around 800 BC changes are appearing everywhere oh yhe Eouropean Continent. On the Balearic Islands, radical cultural changes are noticed in the funerary practices, the settlement organization and the religious architecture. During the Bronze Age, a gradual change of burial practices takes place on both islands like the evolution from dolmens to burial naveats, but at the boundary of 800 BC more abrupt changes are ascertained. The Menorcan burial naveats, as well as the ingumation in cliff caves, associatrd with a particular treatment involving the cutting and dying of the hair disappear. Two othe burial rituals appear quite suddenly. There are the secondary cave burials, characterized by a sober disposing of from the human remains. At the same time, the cremation ritual starts which evolves into the indigenous lime burials caves. In the Late Bronze Age, the most common dwelling is the so-called naviform building, a boat shaped structure. This type of building changed in a very short time into the so-called Talaytonic settlements, which are characterized by the presence of tower like structures and large, almost square houses. This evolution is clearly documented at Mallorca. 74 At the same time, the first monumental sanctuaries appear on both islands. This evolution is better attested for the Mallorcan horseshoe shaped sanctuaries than for the Taula sanctuaries of Menorca. It has been argued that theese changes are related to an increasing insularity on both islands. 75 The silver studded sword from Cyprus, Tamassos T. 12 (CA II), in the Cambridge Fitzwilliam Museum Collection – Iron Age Reflections of LBA hero burials? Christian Vonhoff (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) My intended talk concerns itself with the world known silver studded sword kept in the Fitzwilliam Museum Collection at Cambridge. The iron sword was unearthed in Royal Tomb 12 at Tamassos, which is dated to the CA II period (600–480 v. Chr.). The sword – given to the Fitzwilliam Museum Collection as a present by Sir Henry Bulwer in 1892 – despite his advanced Iron Age date represents one of the finest pieces of weaponry known from Cyprus so far and looks back on a long, metal-work focussed tradition, that is deeply rooted in Cypriot material culture since the LBA. Besides technical peculiarities and contemporaneous parallels to the famous sword specimen in the Fitzwilliam Museum, my lecture therefore will concentrate on potential LBA forerunners from the Mediterranean World. In such a way, the question of the cultural origin of this type of sword throughout the pre- and protohistoric Mediterranean will operate as a striking example referring to the archaeologically and methodological hyped concept of “insularity and connectivity”, which – in regard to ancient LBA and EIA Cyprus – has been cited ever since. Given these considerations, a basis for the final investigations concerning the LBA “heirloom-character” 76 connected to this masterpiece of Iron Age weaponry from Tamassos tomb 12 can be provided by simultaneously laying out a direct connection between the profession of the warrior, elite lifestyle and intercultural exchange during the transition from LBA and EIA in Cyprus. 77 Sponsored by 78