Characterizing the manufacturing practices of Late Bronze Age White slip ware from Bamboula-Kourion, Cyprus

• Published in: Journal of archaeological science, reports reports, 2024-02, Vol.53, p.104380, Article 104380
• Main Authors: Cordivari, Braden W., Boileau, Marie-Claude
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ceramic petrography; Chaîne opératoire; Handmade pottery; Mediterranean archaeology; Pottery production; X-radiography
• ISSN: 2352-409X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104380

•We characterize the production processes of Late Bronze Age Cypriot White Slip Ware.•This technology appears localized to the area around the Troodos Ophiolite.•Specific hand forming techniques were maintained for centuries.•Changes in decorative style do not neatly correlate with changes in technological style. White Slip Ware (WS) is one of the most recognizable Late Cypriot pottery types and was traded around the Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age. This study examines the specific methods used to create the WS pots deposited in tombs at Bamboula-Kourion by considering the ware’s chaîne opératoire. Using a combination of ceramic petrography, x-radiography, infrared spectroscopy and electron microscopy, we reconstruct the production technology of WS I, II, and IIA vessels and add this fabric-based evidence to discussions of typology. This characterization of the production of WS ware vessels contributes to an understanding of community-level interaction at Bamboula and in the region around the Troodos and opens new questions about the continuities and changes in technical production knowledge that accompanied stylistic and typological shifts in LC pottery.