In A.-L. d’Agata and P. Pavúk (eds) 179-205, The Lady of Pottery: Ceramic Studies Presented to Penelope A. Mountjoy in Acknowledgement of Her Outstanding Scholarship. SMEA NS, Supplement 3,, 2023
Mycenaean decorated pottery has been found in significant quantities on Cyprus and was clearly th... more Mycenaean decorated pottery has been found in significant quantities on Cyprus and was clearly the focus of a sustained trading endeavour between the island and the Aegean, particularly during the 14th and 13th centuries BC (LH IIIA2-LH IIIB). The bulk of these imports have been found at the urban centres that fringe the island’s coastline, these being the primary mediators of maritime trade; rather less has been found in the hinterland, at the primary production centres ‒ farming, mining and pottery production ‒ although there are concentrations at some of the specialised religious or ceremonial centres such as Myrtou Pigadhes and Athienou. I have previously argued that this apparent disjuncture in the distribution of Mycenaean pottery in part reflects the greater emphasis of excavation at the coastal sites, rather than necessarily a Late Bronze Age reality. Certainly, recent excavations at the inland settlement of Aredhiou have demonstrated that the smaller inland production sites did have sustained access to imported pottery from the Aegean, Egypt and the Levant. This paper reviews the consumption of Mycenaean imported pottery in Late Bronze Age Cyprus, focusing specifically on the hinterland. It provides a comparison between the better-known religious sites of Athienou and Myrtou Pigadhes and the small farming community at Aredhiou Vouppes to allow for a better understanding of the integration of the imported commodities within ritualised practice in the smaller communities situated away from the hustle and bustle of international mercantile trade.
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Books by Louise Steel
In this book we explore the sensory experiences of consumption of food and the objects through which these are mediated. Three key themes are identified:
a) Transformations: not only how foodstuffs are transformed into consumables but also changes in material practices surrounding the production and consumption of food;
b) Embodied Encounters: exploring the agencies of production and consumption and the materiality of the consumed, and how these shape social and material worlds;
c) Social and Symbolic Consumption: socialised and ritualised behaviours surrounding interactions with food and drink, including magical substitutes for food, non-consumption, specialised equipments.
The contributors go beyond the materiality of food itself as the object of study, to also incorporate the objects through which food realistically and symbolically comes to life. The articles in this edited volume focus on the material culture, its participation of application of meaning, the encounters with food or ideas of food, and embodied experiences. By looking at cultures spanning from ancient Egypt to 20th century Netherlands, from modern Kenya to ancient China, the interdisciplinary chapters explore the multiple interplays between foods, bodies, material worlds, rituals, and embodied knowledge that emerge from these material encounters and how this knowledge, in turn, shape the material culture of food.
While traditional archaeologies in the East Mediterranean have tended to be reductive in their approach to material culture and how it was produced, used, and exchanged, this book reviews current research on material culture, focusing on issues such as the biography of objects, inalienable possessions, and hybridization – exploring how these issues can further illuminate the material world of the communities of the Bronze Age Mediterranean.
Papers by Louise Steel
explore becoming a Mycenaean woman through the medium of sculpted clay.
In this book we explore the sensory experiences of consumption of food and the objects through which these are mediated. Three key themes are identified:
a) Transformations: not only how foodstuffs are transformed into consumables but also changes in material practices surrounding the production and consumption of food;
b) Embodied Encounters: exploring the agencies of production and consumption and the materiality of the consumed, and how these shape social and material worlds;
c) Social and Symbolic Consumption: socialised and ritualised behaviours surrounding interactions with food and drink, including magical substitutes for food, non-consumption, specialised equipments.
The contributors go beyond the materiality of food itself as the object of study, to also incorporate the objects through which food realistically and symbolically comes to life. The articles in this edited volume focus on the material culture, its participation of application of meaning, the encounters with food or ideas of food, and embodied experiences. By looking at cultures spanning from ancient Egypt to 20th century Netherlands, from modern Kenya to ancient China, the interdisciplinary chapters explore the multiple interplays between foods, bodies, material worlds, rituals, and embodied knowledge that emerge from these material encounters and how this knowledge, in turn, shape the material culture of food.
While traditional archaeologies in the East Mediterranean have tended to be reductive in their approach to material culture and how it was produced, used, and exchanged, this book reviews current research on material culture, focusing on issues such as the biography of objects, inalienable possessions, and hybridization – exploring how these issues can further illuminate the material world of the communities of the Bronze Age Mediterranean.
explore becoming a Mycenaean woman through the medium of sculpted clay.
As one of the first mineral substance to be transformed from a malleable to a durable state. Many societies perceive it as an animate substance permeated with “a spiritual energy and life-force” that retains a “thing-power”, allowing it to be shaped into various forms.[1] [2]
Building on her ongoing research Steel looks at the agency of matter to illustrate how the distinct capacities of clay (in relationship with water and fire) shaped and facilitated, but equally constrained, people’s behaviour, resulting in distinctive social and material worlds. Focusing on the vitality of matter, Steel considers how “the materials themselves are determining—even actively responsible—for the final shape and manner by which the finished article can manifest”. [3]
[1] Boivin, N. 2012. From veneration to exploitation: Human engagement with the mineral world. In Soils, Stones and Symbols: Cultural Perceptions of the Mineral World; Boivin, N., Owoc, M.A., (Eds). London: Routledge, pp. 1–29. [2] Bennett, J. 2010.Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. [3] Attala, L. and Steel, L. 2019.Body Matters: Exploring the Materiality of the Human Body> Cardiff: Wales University Press.