Revisiting Alambra Mouttes Sneddon, Andrew
Journal of Mediterranean archaeology,
01/2015, Letnik:
28, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Alambra Mouttes is the site of a Prehistoric Bronze Age settlement in Cyprus. Excavation and survey in the 1970s and 1980s resulted in a reconstruction of the approximate boundaries and layout of the ...ancient settlement. Since 2012 geophysical survey and excavation have located a number of previously unidentified habitation areas while significantly increasing our knowledge of the site’s spatial configuration. Armed with these new data it is possible to present some hypotheses about the social processes underlying the development pattern of this prehistoric community
Tin was a vital commodity in times past. In central Europe, the earliest finds of tin‐bronze date to about 2200 bc, while in Greece they are c. 400–500 years earlier. While there is evidence for ...prehistoric copper mining—for example, in the Alps or mainland Greece, among other places—the provenance of the contemporary tin is still an unsolved problem. This work deals with a new approach for tracing the ancient tin via tin isotope signatures. The tin isotope ratios of 50 tin ores from the Erzgebirge region (D) and 30 tin ores from Cornwall (GB) were measured by MC–ICP–MS. Most ore deposits were found to be quite homogeneous regarding their tin isotope composition, but significant differences were observed between several deposits. This fact may be used to distinguish different tin deposits and thus form the basis for the investigation of the provenance of ancient tin that has been sought for more than a century. Furthermore, the tin‐isotope ratio of the ‘Himmelsscheibe von Nebra’ will be presented: the value fits well with the bulk of investigated tin ores from Cornwall.
The University of Queensland Alambra Archaeological Mission (UQAAM) conducted a program of geophysical survey and archaeological excavation over four seasons from 2012 to 2016. This program has ...allowed this study to compile a large array of geophysical data, which has been tested against actual excavation results. By integrating the two forms of archaeological investigation, the UQAAM has been able to identify geophysical ‘signatures’ diagnostic and indicative of internal architectural features relating to the Cypriot Prehistoric Bronze Age (c2400–1750BC). This is the first time internal features have been identified using these techniques on a Middle Bronze Age site in Cyprus. The program has also identified two, and possibly four, areas of domestic settlement. This has yielded results that are of considerable value to cultural heritage managers of the site, which is experiencing development pressures. While identifying several constraints with the geophysical survey for the Prehistoric Bronze Age in Cyprus, the program has demonstrated the efficacy of a combined geophysical survey and excavation approach to sites of the Early-Middle Bronze Age period.
The “Vounous Bowl” (ca. 2025–1850 B.C.E.) is a prehistoric Bronze Age vessel from the cemetery at Bellapais Vounous on the northern coast of Cyprus, modeled to depict what is commonly interpreted as ...people engaged in ritual activities in front of a shrine. The vessel has long intrigued archaeologists working in Cyprus, partly because unambiguous evidence for religious structures and paraphernalia has eluded them in the archaeological record. However, excavations at the Early–Middle Bronze Age site of Alambra in central Cyprus have yielded an artifact that closely resembles the finials placed atop the “throne” depicted in the Vounous Bowl. Its find context—in a room within a domestic structure that also contained a human burial—supports those interpretations of the Vounous Bowl that emphasize its sacred dimensions and its possible connections with the mortuary domain.
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