ANKARA UNIVERSITY
RESEARCH CENTER FOR MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY (ANKÜSAM)
Publication No: 1
Proceedings of the International Symposium
The Aegean in the Neolithic,
Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age
October 13
th
– 19
th
1997, Urla - İzmir (Turkey)
Edited by
Hayat Erkanal, Harald Hauptmann,
Vasıf Şahoğlu, Rıza Tuncel
Ankara
• 2008
ANKARA ÜNİVERSİTESİ / ANKARA UNIVERSITY
SUALTI ARKEOLOJİK ARAŞTIRMA ve UYGULAMA MERKEZİ (ANKÜSAM)
RESEARCH CENTER FOR MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY (ANKÜSAM)
Yayın No / Publication No: 1
Ön kapak: İzmir - Höyücek’de ele geçmiş insan yüzü tasvirli bir stel. M.Ö. 3. Bin.
Front cover: A stelae depicting a human face from İzmir - Höyücek . 3rd Millennium
BC.
Arka kapak: Liman Tepe Erken Tunç Çağı II, Atnalı Biçimli Bastiyon.
Back cover: Early Bronze Age II horse-shoe shaped bastion at Liman Tepe.
Kapak Tasarımı / Cover Design : Vasıf Şahoğlu
ISBN: 978-975-482-767-5
Ankara Üniversitesi Basımevi / Ankara University Press
İncitaşı Sokak No:10 06510 Beşevler / ANKARA
Tel: 0 (312) 213 66 55
Basım Tarihi: 31 / 03 / 2008
CONTENTS
Abbreviations …………………………………………………………………………………............ xi
Preface by the Editors ………………………………………………………………………………… xiii
Opening speech by the Mayor, Bülent BARATALI …...……………………………………………......... xxiii
Opening speech by Prof. Dr. Ekrem AKURGAL ……………………………………............................... xxv
Opening speech by Prof. Dr. Christos DOUMAS……………………………………………………….. xxvii
LILIAN ACHEILARA
Myrina in Prehistoric Times …..…………………………………………………………….
1
VASSILIKI ADRIMI – SISMANI
Données Récentes Concernant Le Site Prehistorique De Dimini: La Continuité
de l’Habitation Littorale depuis le Début du Néolithique Récent jusqu’à la Fin du
Bronze Ancien ………………………………………………………………………………
9
IOANNIS ASLANIS
Frühe Fortifikationssysteme in Griechenland ……………………………………………….
35
PANAGIOTA AYGERINOU
A Flaked-Stone Industry from Mytilene: A Preliminary Report ……………………………
45
ANTHI BATZIOU – EFSTATHIOU
Kastraki: A New Bronze Age Settlement in Achaea Phthiotis ……………………………..
73
MARIO BENZI
A Forgotten Island: Kalymnos in the Late Neolithic Period ……………………………….. 85
ÖNDER BİLGİ
Relations between İkiztepe by the Black Sea Coast and the Aegean World
before Iron Age ……………………………………………………………………………... 109
TRISTAN CARTER
Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body modification and Political Structure in the
Late EB I Southern Cyclades ………………………………………………………............. 119
CHRISTOS DOUMAS
The Aegean Islands and their Role in the Developement of Civilisation ………….............. 131
ANTHI DOVA
Prehistoric Topography of Lemnos: The Early Bronze Age ………………………………. 141
NIKOS EFSTRATIOU
The Neolithic of the Aegean Islands: A New Picture Emerging ………………….............. 159
HAYAT ERKANAL
Die Neue Forschungen in Bakla Tepe bei İzmir ..…………………………………………. 165
HAYAT ERKANAL
Liman Tepe: A New Light on the Prehistoric Aegean Cultures …………………………… 179
JEANNETTE FORSÉN
The Asea Valley from the Neolithic Period to the Early Bronze Age …………….............. 191
DAVID H. FRENCH
Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Pottery of Southwest Anatolia ………………............. 197
Contents
viii
NOEL GALE
Metal Sources for Early Bronze Age Troy and the Aegean ………………………............. 203
BARTHEL HROUDA
Zur Chronologie Südwestkleinasiens in der 2. Hälfte des 3. Jahrtausends v. Chr ............... 223
HALİME HÜRYILMAZ
1996 Rettungsgrabungen auf dem Yenibademli Höyük, Gökçeada / Imbros …………….. 229
ERGUN KAPTAN
Metallurgical Residues from Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age
Liman Tepe ………………………………………………………………………….......... 243
ANNA KARABATSOLI and LIA KARIMALI
Etude Comparative Des Industries Lithiques Taillées Du Néolithique Final Et
Du Bronze Ancien Egéen : Le Cas De Pefkakia ………………………………………….. 251
NECMİ KARUL
Flechtwerkgabäude aus Osttrakien ……………………………………………………….. 263
SİNAN KILIÇ
The Early Bronze Age Pottery from Northwest Turkey in Light of Results of a
Survey around the Marmara Sea ………………………………………………………….. 275
OURANIA KOUKA
Zur Struktur der frühbronzezeitlichen insularen Gesellschaften der
Nord- und Ostägäis: Ein neues Bild der sogenannten “Trojanischen Kultur”…………….. 285
NINA KYPARISSI – APOSTOLIKA
Some Finds of Balkan (or Anatolian) Type in the Neolithic Deposit of
Theopetra Cave, Thessaly …………………………………………………………………. 301
LAURA LABRIOLA
First Impressions: A Preliminary Account of Matt Impressed Pottery in the
Prehistoric Aegean ………………………………………………………………………… 309
ROBERT LAFFINEUR
Aspects of Early Bronze Age Jewellery in the Aegean …………………………………… 323
KYRIAKOS LAMBRIANIDES and NIGEL SPENCER
The Early Bronze Age Sites of Lesbos and the Madra Çay Delta:
New Light on a Discrete Regional Centre of Prehistoric Settlement and Society
in the Northeast Aegean ……………………………………………………........................ 333
YUNUS LENGERANLI
Metallic Mineral Deposits and Occurences of the Izmir District, Turkey ………………… 355
EFTALIA MAKRI – SKOTINIOTI and VASSILIKI ADRIMI – SISMANI
Les Sites Du Neolithique Recent Dans Le Golfe Pagasetique : La Transformation
Des Sites De L’age De Bronze En Sites Urbains (Le Cas De Dimini) ……………………. 369
ELSA NIKOLAOU, VASSO RONDIRI and LIA KARIMALI
Magoula Orgozinos: A Neolithic Site in Western Thessaly, Greece ………………………. 387
EMEL OYBAK and CAHİT DOĞAN
Plant Remains from Liman Tepe and Bakla Tepe in the İzmir Region ……………………. 399
Contents
ix
DEMETRA PAPACONSTANTINOU
Looking for ‘Texts’ in the Neolithic Aegean: Space, Place and the
Study of Domestic Architecture (Poster summary) ………………………………….......... 407
ATHANASSIOS J. PAPADOPOULOS and SPYRIDOULA KONTORLI – PAPADOPOULOU
Some thoughts on the Problem of Relations between the Aegean and
Western Greece in the Early Bronze Age …………………………………………………. 411
STRATIS PAPADOPOULOS and DIMITRA MALAMIDOU
Limenaria: A Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Settlement at Thasos ……………………… 427
DANIEL J. PULLEN
Connecting the Early Bronze I and II Periods in the Aegean ……………………………….. 447
JEREMY B. RUTTER
Anatolian Roots of Early Helladic III Drinking Behaviour …………………………………. 461
VASIF ŞAHOĞLU
New Evidence for the Relations Between the Izmir Region, the Cyclades
and the Greek Mainland during the Third Millennium BC …………………………………. 483
ADAMANTIOS SAMPSON
From the Mesolithic to the Neolithic: New Data on Aegean Prehistory ……………………. 503
EVANGELIA SKAFIDA
Symbols from the Aegean World: The Case of Late Neolithic Figurines
and House Models from Thessaly …………………………………………………………... 517
PANAGIOTA SOTIRAKOPOULOU
The Cyclades, The East Aegean Islands and the Western Asia Minor:
Their Relations in the Aegean Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age …………………….. 533
GEORGIA STRATOULI
Soziale une ökonomische Aspekte des Chalkolithikums (spätneolithikum II)
in der Ägäis aufgrund alter und neuer Angaben …………………………………………….. 559
GEORGE TOUFEXIS
Recent Neolithic Research in the Eastern Thessalian Plain, Greece:
A Preliminary Report ……………………………………………………………………….. 569
RIZA TUNCEL
IRERP Survey Program: New Prehistoric Settlements in the Izmir Region ……………….. 581
HANNELORE VANHAVERBEKE, PIERRE M. VERMEERSCH, INGRID BEULS,
BEA de CUPERE and MARC WAELKENS
People of the Höyüks versus People of the Mountains ? …………………………………… 593
KOSTAS VOUZAXAKIS
An Alternative Suggestion in Archaeological Data Presentations:
Neolithic Culture Through the Finds from Volos Archaeological Museum ……………….. 607
Closing Remarks by Prof. Dr Machteld J. MELLINK ………………………………………………. 611
Symposium Programme ……………………………………………………………………………… 615
Memories from the Symposium……………………………………………………………………… 623
Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body Modification and Political
Structure in the Late EB I Southern Aegean
Tristan CARTER
ABSTRACT: The late EB I period represents the genesis of Colin Renfrew’s ‘international spirit’, with
certain Cycladic communities engaging in new forms of exogamous social relations, establishing long-
distance trading partners and / or kinship alliances. Concurrent with, and undoubtedly related to these
important political developments, was a heightened significance afforded body modification. Employing a
range of accoutrements, implements and physical resources, the human form was adorned, tattooed, scared
and painted. It is argued that this phenomenon was not only a reflection of the ‘body politic’ (kin and
corporate identity, status, gender, etc.), but also formed an element of its creation. This paper focuses upon
the recent discovery that cinnabar, an extremely rare nd physically ‘esoteric’ compound, was one of the
pigments being employed at this time and considers the socio-political ramifications of its procurement
and consumption.
Introduction
∗
From the Late Neolithic [LN]
colonisation of the islands onward, the
inhabitants of the Cyclades were connected
with their surrounding world
1
. The extent and
nature of this contact has yet to be fully
ascertained
2
, though some networks no doubt
offered great socio-political rewards, not least
those which enabled certain participants to
access Balkan metalwork and other prestige
‘exotica’
3
.
In late Early Bronze Age I [late EB I],
there appears to have been a radical change
with regard to how long-distance movement
and inter-cultural contact was organised and
perceived within island society. In what one
could term the ‘genesis’ of Renfrew’s EB II
‘international spirit’
4
, material culture of
Cycladic origin and / or influence has been
recovered from Attica, Euboea, Crete, Lemnos,
∗
This paper is part of a larger study on body
modification and political structure in the EB southern
Aegean by the author and Georgia Nakou, though this
paper and its conclusions are the sole responsibility of
T. Carter. I also acknowledge the help of Miss Arborry
Cottier, Miss Laura Labriola, and Mr. A.B. Carter, plus
the British School at Athens for funding my attendance
of the conference. Figures 1 & 2 by A.B. Carter, figure
3 by D. Faulmann.
1
Sotirakopoulou 1996, 587-92; Zachos 1987, 124-27;
1990, 30.
2
cf. Torrence 1986; Perlès 1990; 1992.
3
Zachos 1990, 30, 34, pl. 4; Nakou 1995, 6-7.
4
Renfrew 1972, 451-55; Carter 1998a, 61-63.
Samos and Western Anatolia
5
. There is reason
to believe that this spread of late EB I
‘Cycladica’ was borne by the islanders
themselves, and that the associated act of
voyaging had more of a social, than economic,
value
6
. One theory is that the movement of this
material culture was embedded within the
creation of new power structures by certain
members of Early Cycladic [EC] society. This
would have been achieved partly by increasing
and broadening political alliances through
establishing and controlling new trade networks
and the exchange of spouses
7
, the emphasis
being on geographical exogamy and class
endogamy
8
.
Concurrent with this late EB I
reorganisation and reconceptualisation of
overseas contact, is the appearance of two new
features in the islands’ material and symbolic
record. The first is the emergence of a strong
maritime and celestial iconography (Fig. 1),
which Broodbank has argued to be a reflection
of long-distance voyaging’s new social
standing
9
. The second, is a heightened
importance accorded body decoration and
personal display.
5
Renfrew 1972, 166, fig. 10.4-5; Zapheiropoulou 1984,
38-40; Day, Wilson & Kiriatzi 1998.
6
Broodbank 1989, 1993.
7
cf. Broodbank 1992, 543; Macintyre 1983, 375-76;
Spriggs 1986, 13.
8
cf. Leach 1983, 7; Hommon 1986, 57; Kirch 1986;
Helms 1988.
9
Broodbank 1989, 1993.
Tristan CARTER
120
Body modification - methods and
materials
It should be made clear that this paper is
not claiming that the habit of modifying and
adorning the body was introduced into Cycladic
society in late EB I. The LN settlement of
Saliagos produced a variety of stone and shell
amulets, beads and bracelets
10
, and copper pins
were recovered from the Final Neolithic /
“Chalcolithic” horizons in the Zas Cave, Naxos
and Ftelia, Mykonos
11
. In turn, stone-bead and
shell necklaces are known from EB I (early)
Pelos-Group burials
12
, and there is evidence
that some of the schematic early EB I figurines
were painted, presumably reflecting real life
practices
13
. However, the burial record of the
late EB I Cyclades has generated a wealth of
artefacts and materials for decorating and
altering the body, clearly indicating the
important role these customs fulfilled in island
society at this time. Indeed, it is this theme that
helps to define and link the richest grave
assemblages of the Plastiras and Kampos
groups, including Panaghia Tomb 56, Ayioi
Anargyroi Tomb 5, Kapros Grave D and Louros
Athalassou Tomb 26
14
.
The items recovered consist of jewellery
(Fig. 2a-b), specifically bracelets and necklaces
made from copper, silver and a particular type
of greenstone
15
. There are also red and blue
pigments, plus the pestles, palettes and bowls
used to prepare them before their application to
the body, either temporarily as painted
decoration, or permanently as tattoos
16
. These
colorants are either smeared on the surface of a
stone vessel, recovered as small raw nodules, or
kept within special ceramic containers referred
to as mini-aryballoi (Fig. 2f)
17
.
10
Evan & Renfrew 1968, 65, fig. 78, pl. XLVI.
11
Zachos 1996, 167; Sampson 1997, 8, pl. 12
12
Doumas 1977, 16, 86, 95, pls. XXVII,f, XXXIII,h;
Papathanassopoulos 1981, 137, pl. 64.
13
Tsountas 1898, 195, pl. 11,16 & 18;
Papathanassopoulos 1981, 185, pl. 103.
14
Tsountas 1898, 156-57; Doumas 1977, 107-08;
Renfrew 1967, 6-7; Papathanassopoulos 1961-62, 132-
37.
15
Tsountas 1898, 156; Renfrew 1967, 6-7, pl. 4;
Papathanassopoulos 1961-62, 135, 138, pl. 67g, 71g;
Doumas 1977, 108, pl. XXXV,h; Arnott 1989.
16
Doumas 1977, 17-19; Televantou 1990, 59, pl. 27-28;
Getz-Gentle 1996, 65-95.
17
Ekschmitt 1986, 32 pl. 3; Papathanassopoulos 1961-62,
132-33, pl. 66g-d.
In addition there are fine obsidian blades
(Fig. 2c), that on the basis of their form,
context, ethnographic and historical parallels,
almost certainly represent depilatory razors, and
/ or knives for scarifying the body
18
. Finally
there is a group of fine pointed metal
implements (Fig. 2d-e), whose regular asso-
ciation with the aforementioned objects, make
them eminently suitable candidates for EC
tattooing needles
19
.
A partial insight to the nature and visual
impact of late EB I body modification is
provided by the paintwork recorded on
contemporary marble figurines
20
, though the
details and designs are more clearly seen on the
folded-arm variants of early EB II (Fig. 3)
21
. In
depicting jewellery, elaborate hairstyles, body-
paint and tattoos, the painters employed the
same colorants that accompanied the dead.
These implements and materials thus
foreshadow the more commonly referenced EB
II ‘toilet-kit’
22
, the copper scrapers, tweezers
and bone pigment containers from Keros-Syros
Group tombs, a development and elaboration of
a late EB I phenomenon. The functional
interpretations accorded the above implements
are not particularly new
23
, but there has been
little discussion as to why such a concern for
body modification should have arisen at this
juncture.
Embodying political change in the late EB I
Cyclades
To sociologists and anthropologists alike,
the human body represents a fundamental
medium through which a person may express
kin and corporate identity, gender, personal
experience and status
24
. It thus comes as no
surprise that the practice of body decoration in
the pre-palatial Aegean has a heritage of
18
Carter 1994, 1997.
19
Cf. Papathanassopoulos 1961-62, 134, pl. 68g; Doumas
1977, 107, pl. XXXV,i-j, 1990, 163, pl. 166-68;
Zapheiropoulou 1970, 429.
20
Tsountas 1898, 155, 194-95; Doumas 1977, 99.
21
Getz-Preziosi & Weinberg 1970; Renfrew 1991, 117-
23; Hendrix 1997/98.
22
Branigan 1974, 31-34.
23
Blinkenberg 1896, 51-54; Bosanquet 1896-97, 66-67;
Tsountas 1898, 195, inter alia.
24
Blacking 1977; Layton 1989; Gell 1993; Shilling 1993;
Synott 1993.
Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body Modification and Political Structure in the Late EB I Southern Aegean
121
millennia, from hunter-gatherer to proto-urban
societies. The use of pigments is documented in
Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic contexts
25
,
while Neolithic sites have produced quantities
of jewellery and decorated anthropomorphic
figurines
26
. However, it is the belief of Georgia
Nakou and the author, that in the late EB I
Cyclades an accepted mode of symbolic
behaviour (body modification) was
appropriated by a few members of society who
used it in a new and exclusive manner.
We are not the first to attach importance
to the role of adornment in late EB I society, as
Renfrew argued in 1984 that “conspicuous
display” was a hallmark of the Kampos
Group
27
. His interpretation focused on the
notable consumption of silver and copper,
claiming that in these grave assemblages one
sees the origins of Cycladic metallurgy. The
first appearance of metals in the “context of
display”, rather than utilitarian implements, is
comparable to how the technology was
introduced into other areas such as the
Balkans
28
. Thus, in Renfrew’s model it is metal
that forms the basis of the Kampos Group’s
importance, the body serving merely as a means
through which an individual consumed the new
political currency.
This argument can be challenged on two
fronts. Firstly, there is now good evidence for
metallurgy in the Cyclades from the LN
onward
29
, with Nakou arguing that the late EB I
horizon’s importance relates to the radical shift
in attitudes towards metallurgy witnessed at this
time, evidenced through changes in depositional
behaviour
30
. Secondly, it would be wrong to
focus on metals as the sole driving force behind
political change at this time, as the diversion of
metalwork into the funerary arena represented
only one means by which existing media were
employed in new ways to help create, maintain
and articulate new social orders. The
heightened political consequence given to
25
Koukouli-Crysanthaki & Weisgerber 1996; Honea
1975; Cullen 1995, 282.
26
Karali 1996; Miller 1996; Talalay 1993, 70-72;
Marangou 1992, 177; Papaefthymiou-Papanthimou
1997, 23-54.
27
Renfrew 1984, 51-53.
28
Renfrew 1984, 52.
29
Zachos 1990; 1996.
overseas voyaging has been referred to above,
to which can be added the emergence of
conspicuous production in lithic technology
31
and the reconceptualised role of display and
body imagery. Moreover, one can note a change
in how island society perceived the human
body, with a marked break between late EB I
representations of the human figure and those
of the later Neolithic and early EB I. The earlier
figurines’ accentuated and schematised features
emphasise certain attributes at the expense of
naturalism, unlike those of the Plastiras and
Louros groups, which project an image of the
individual through their clear demarcation of
heads and faces
32
.
Although the aforementioned
accoutrements, implements and materials
associated with body modification represent the
‘spirit of the age’, it must be noted, that apart
from the obsidian blades, they are present in
only a few late EB I tomb groups. It is therefore
suggested that the use of this symbolic language
not only expressed the social being but also
formed a major factor in the creation of the
‘body politic’. This is an issue that will be
returned to at the end of the paper, so at this
point we shall concentrate on one of this
practice’s components, the pigments.
Colorants in the Early Cycladic world
The red colorants commonly seen on the
marble figurines and vessels of the EC burial
record have generally been assumed to be
‘ochre’
33
, an iron oxide readily available in the
Aegean (Fig. 4). Sources include Kea in the
northern Cyclades
34
, Lemnos
35
and Thasos,
whose outcrops were exploited from as early as
the Upper Palaeolithic
36
.
Recent analyses of red pigments on
‘Cycladica’ have discovered that in certain
instances the colorant was not ochre but
cinnabar; for example on some of the EB II
30
Nakou 1995, 2.
31
Carter 1994, 131; 1998a, 71; 1998b, 153-76.
32
cf. Papathanassopoulos 1961-62, 135-36, pl. 70;
Doumas 1977, 99-100, pl. XXXV, a-d; Sotirakopoulou
1998, 126-38, pl. 13-23.
33
Renfrew 1969, 23; Doumas 1977, 90; Blomqvist 1990,
240.
34
Photos-Jones et al 1997.
35
Higgins & Higgins 1996, 124-25.
36
Koukouli-Crysanthaki & Weisgerber 1996.
Tristan CARTER
122
folded-arm figurines from the British and
Metropolitan Museums
37
. At present few of
these analyses have been published in full, so it
is difficult to gauge how commonly this
material was being employed, or the temporal
and spatial context of its exploitation. Cinnabar
has been identified, however, on an
unprovenanced palette from a North American
museum
38
, that on the basis of parallels from
excavated contexts should be late EB I in
date
39
, i.e. the period under discussion.
Cinnabar and the Cyclades
Cinnabar, also known as vermilion, is a
dense, vivid, red natural mineral, the principal
ore of the metal mercury
40
. The significance of
cinnabar’s use in an EC context is arguably due
to the material’s rarity and its interesting
physical properties. With regard to the first
point, the archaeological literature has stated
that cinnabar is unknown in the Aegean
41
,
quoting Theophrastus, Pliny and Vitruvius who
recorded that the Greeks of the classical world
procured the pigment from the “Cilbian fields
of Ephesus” (Fig. 4), later turning to the
Almaden source in southern Spain
42
.
There is, however, one reference to an
Aegean source of cinnabar which has hitherto
gone unnoticed. In 1935 the ancient historian
Oliver Davies, in his book Roman Mines in
Europe, claimed to have found cinnabar
occurring naturally next to one of the most
important sites in the EC world, Chalandriani
on Syros
43
. In January 1997 the author
relocated this alleged source with a colleague
from the British School at Athens (Fig. 5)
44
.
With a permit from the Greek Institute of
Geological and Mining Exploration (IGME) the
red minerals were sampled, but on analysis they
37
Higgins 1972; Hendrix 1997/98, 8; Carter et al, in
prep.
38
Getz-Gentle 1996, 264, pl. 40,b.
39
Doumas 1977, 17, fig. 5,b.
40
Read 1970, 310-11; Gettens, Feller & Chase 1972, 45-
69.
41
cf. Hendrix 1997/98, 8.
42
Theophrastus D.L., 58; Pliny N.H., XXXVII, 114;
Vitruvius D.A. VII, IX, 1; Caley & Richards 1956, 194-
97.
43
Davies 1935, 264.
44
Miss Arborry Cottier of the Department of
Archaeology and Department of Geology and Applied
Geology, University of Glasgow.
were discovered to be a compound containing
hematite, not cinnabar. Thus it now seems that
Davies’ claim was mistaken. Indeed,
geologically, one should not expect to find
cinnabar in this vicinity due to the absence of
geothermal activity
45
.
Yet evidence for cinnabar in the Aegean
does exist, having been discovered by panning
surveys undertaken by IGME. Traces of the
mineral have been found on Euboea in the
regions of Kapsouli, Kalliani and Katsaroni
46
; it
is also recorded on Naxos, Chios and at a
number of locations on Samos, but in virtually
all of these instances cinnabar was present only
in extremely small quantities
47
. Furthermore,
the samples came from waterborne secondary
contexts so that we remain ignorant of the
mineral’s sources. Cinnabar is also quite soft
and susceptible to reduction during mechanical
transport, meaning that it is difficult to evaluate
the size of the source the panning sample
derived from.
Physical properties and value
Turning to the mineral’s physical
properties, it is cinnabar’s brilliant colour that
commonly forms the centre of discussion. Pliny
describes it as one of a select group of “vivid”
colorants, along with azurite, malachite, indigo
and Tyrian purple, all other pigments being
referred to as “subdued”
48
. In EC society
cinnabar’s vibrancy would have distinguished it
from the more accessible red pigments (iron
oxides and vegetal dyes), the differences in hue
and modes of application embodying and
conveying variant histories, experiences and
social relations
49
. The pigment’s association
with silver mining is also recorded
50
, though
mercuric sulphide does not necessarily correlate
with the metal.
While Pliny was at a loss to explain why,
in Roman society cinnabar had “sacred”
associations and was deemed to be of the
“highest importance”, used to paint the face of
45
A. Cottier pers. Comm.
46
Pantoula 1993, 26.
47
Papastaurou & Pantoula 1986, 19-20; Pantoula 1994,
16-17.
48
Pliny N.H., XII, 30.
49
cf. Sagona & Webb 1994, 133-51.
50
Caley & Richards 1956, 198-99.
Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body Modification and Political Structure in the Late EB I Southern Aegean
123
Jupiter’s statue on holidays and cover the
bodies of those in “triumphal procession”
51
.
The literature provides various other
descriptions of cinnabar’s use, including
alchemy and pharmacy
52
, with names such as
“dragon’s blood”
53
, suggesting that cross-
culturally the material was considered
symbolically potent a
54
nd highly valued .
Though cinnabar’s high regard no doubt
partly stemmed from its rarity, its worth would
have also lain in the pigment’s chemical
properties. Today cinnabar supplies practically
all commercial mercury
55
. Its extraction is
relatively easy, achieved in antiquity through
pounding warmed cinnabar with copper pestles
in conjunction with vinegar
56
. In certain
instances mercury naturally exudes from the
mineral’s surface and with prolonged exposure
to light, the mineral will turn black, to
metacinnabar
57
, all of which serves to make
cinnabar a particularly esoteric resource.
Cinnabar in context - bodies of
knowledge
To summarise, while there is increased
evidence for the occurrence of cinnabar in the
Aegean, the mineral remains rare and not all
‘findspots’ may represent deposits large enough
to have been located and exploited by members
of Cycladic communities. Many more analyses
need to be undertaken before we can appreciate
when the colorant was first introduced into
island society and the extent and nature of its
use. It may be that its application was restricted,
perhaps comparable with the specialised
treatment of the blue pigments. One might
expect the red smeared over large marble
vessels to be ochre or hematite, their
accessibility making it more appropriate for
extensive body-painting. Cinnabar may have
been reserved for special occasions (and
51
Pliny N.H., XXXVI, 111-112.
52
Gettens, Feller & Chase 1972, 47
53
Pliny N.H., XXXIX, 117.
54
Benedetti-Pichler 1937; Barbet 1990; Guichard &
Guineau 1990.
55
Read 1970, 311.
56
Theophrastus D.L., 60; Caley & Richards 1956, 204-
05.
57
Vitruvius D.A. VII, IX, 2-3; Gettens , Feller & Chase
1972, 53-55.
people), limited body decoration and tattooing.
The latter use is perhaps counter-intuitive,
given mercury’s poisonous nature, but parallels
are offered by traditional Japanese methods
whose tattooing involves cadmium, a similarly
toxic substance
58
.
This paper’s discussion of cinnabar, its
qualities and meaning within Cycladic culture,
represents only one avenue of research into the
materials and implements used in late EB I
body modification. It is argued that the
mineral’s physical properties and exclusive
nature must have made it a sought-after and
precious resource in island society.
Significantly, similar interpretations can
be forwarded for many of the other items
employed to adorn and alter the body during
this period. For instance, the blue pigment, that
seems to make its first appearance at this
time
59
, has been proved, where analysed, to be
the copper compounds azurite or malachite
60
,
whose exploitation must have been related to
the prospection and procurement of metals
proper
61
.
As stated above, metalwork itself now
also makes its first appearance in the Cycladic
burial record, with the deposition of a wide
range of objects
62
. In turn, the long obsidian
blades and the core-pestles that occasionally
accompany them, are products of a highly
skilled technological mechanism, one that I
estimate to have been held by only a handful of
people in the Cyclades during this period
63
.
In sum, these items constitute highly
exotic raw materials requiring restricted and
often quite complex technical know-how to
work them. Therefore, while these
accoutrements and colorants expressed a
person’s experience, contacts and position
within society, their role in this political
construct should not be seen as passive. For
these implements and materials in themselves
represented ‘bodies of knowledge’, whose
procurement, ownership and manipulation
58
cf. Richie 1973.
59
cf. Papathanassopoulos 1961-62, 132-33, pl. 66g-d.
60
Renfrew 1969, 23; Thimme 1977, 543-44.
61
cf. Freidrich & Doumas 1990.
62
Renfrew 1984, 51; Nakou 1995, 2.
63
Carter 1998a, 71, 1998b, 153-76.
Tristan CARTER
124
would have all contributed to the creation of the
social being.
TRISTAN CARTER
British School at Athens
52 Odos Souedias, GR-76-106
Athens, GREECE
Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body Modification and Political Structure in the Late EB I Southern Aegean
125
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List of Illustrations:
Fig. 1: Late EB I Cycladic maritime and celestial iconography.
Fig. 2: Late EB I Cycladic material culture associated with body modification:
a
- greenstone necklace, b - silver bracelet, c - obsidian blade, d - copper-alloy needle, e - copper-alloy needle with a
greenstone haft, f - mini-aryballos / pigment container (not to scale).
Fig. 3: Painted details on an early EB II marble figurine (D. Faulmann, based on Getz-Preziosi 1994, pl. VI).
Fig. 4: Aegean pigment sources mentioned in the text.
Fig. 5: Location of Oliver Davies’ alleged cinnabar source at Chalandriani, Syros (map based on Hekman 1991).
Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body Modification and Political Structure in the Late EB I Southern Aegean
129
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