October, 2021 - Catch up on the latest news from CAARI!
Greetings!
Doesn’t this discussion in CAARI’s library feel familiar? Yet it may elicit a double-take: it is pre-pandemic: from a meeting of the Levantine Ceramics Project in 2019. How different it looks from the mask-muffled world of today! But it’s a harbinger of what lies ahead, for as our news-flash shows, CAARI is full of activity now, with researchers in the library and a full schedule of lectures and events.
 
Our first, urgent message is the call for fellowship applications. CAARI confidently welcomes new fellows to residence and research. The opportunities and application dates appear below. The Director’s Report follows them, and shows clearly that both individual research programs and the wide range of CAARI’s public activities are in full swing again. In particular, CAARI is working hard to support the renewal of the US government’s Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Cyprus on protection of cultural heritage. Then much of the news-flash is devoted to the reports of this year’s CAARI fellows. You’ll be impressed by how energetically and creatively each one of them has worked around Covid restrictions to keep their research agendas steaming ahead. And you’ll see how departing Peltenburg Fellow, Dr. Artemis Georgiou—whom we will miss—has turned her time at CAARI into the beginning of a another, even bigger honor. The news-flash will close with a look back at two people whose lives are woven into CAARI’s history. But first, here are the fellowship dates and data: 

It's Time to Apply for CAARI Fellowships!
 Encourage your colleagues, students, and friends to apply for CAARI's fellowships. Information about each grant, including application forms, stipends, and expectations, is available at: www.caari.org/fellowships.

  • Three graduate student stipends offering support for travel to Cyprus and lodging at CAARI. Application deadline: December 6, 2021. 

  • Two CAARI/CAORC postdoctoral fellowships that fund a month's research in Cyprus: Application deadline: January 10, 2022. 

  • The postdoctoral fellowship in honor of Professor Eddie Peltenburg, that can support a full academic year's research time on Cyprus. Application deadline: January 10, 2022.
 
  • Scholar in Residence: Application deadline: January 10, 2022.
 
Other relevant fellowship opportunities are listed on the Fellowships page, as well. Browse the possibilities, and apply
 
Message from CAARI’s Director
 
Dear friends and supporters of CAARI,
Cyprus is again bustling these months, with many online events and even a few live ones, albeit with social distancing and restricted numbers of guests. CAARI has been contributing to the action. We’ve held two fascinating online lectures so far this fall, one from Alison South on the Late Bronze Age tombs at Kalavasos and the second by Dr. Erin Walcek Averett on the Iron Age votives from the sanctuary at Athienou-Malloura. If you didn’t manage to join us live you can find both of these to watch on our YouTube channel. Our next lecture on the 11th November moves from the distant into the recent past with a lecture by Dr. Nicoletta Demetriou entitled The Cypriot Fiddler: An oral history of traditional music-making in Cyprus in the twentieth century. We’ll finish the year back in the Chalcolithic with a lecture from our current Edgar Peltenburg Fellow in Cypriot Prehistory, Dr. Harry Pareskeva, on 2nd December. You can find links for past lectures and the zoom links to forthcoming ones on our website at http://caari.org/programs/.
 
STARC of the Cyprus Institute has invited CAARI and the Archaeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus to be co-organizers of the 3rd International Congress for Archaeological Sciences in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East (ICAS-EMME 3) taking place at the Cyprus Institute 14–18 March 2022. The deadline for submission of abstracts is coming up on the 15th November so see here if you are interested in attending: https://icasemme.cyi.ac.cy.
 
Please do pass on this newsletter to any of your colleagues or students who may be interested in applying for a CAARI fellowship. CAARI also continues to honor our commitments to those who were awarded fellowships over the past two years but had to postpone travel plans due to the pandemic. I’m happy to report that all our remaining 2020–21 fellows have now booked their rooms at CAARI. Over the next months we’ll finally be able to welcome them, and they will be able to complete their research projects. Then you can enjoy reading about their exciting work in forthcoming newsflashes.
 
Although the pandemic doesn’t leave us, it has fortunately receded for now on Cyprus and we are able to enjoy getting together, albeit with strict rules and limited numbers. This allowed us a real treat last week: an actual taverna lunch out at the old favourite ‘To Steki’ to celebrate the 70th birthday of our dear administrator emerita, Vathoulla Moustoukki!
In closing, I’d like to thank our trustees and many archaeologists for contributing letters of support for the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus for the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between Cyprus and the USA concerning the imposition of import restrictions on antiquities from Cyprus into the USA. In January we should have a second opportunity to submit comments. We’ll be putting out a call for those who have researched on the heritage of Cyprus, or have visited archaeological sites as tourists, or came to Cyprus as students, benefitting from time in the museums or in the field. 

Wishing all of our friends good health and that we see you here before too long,
Lindy Crewe, PhD
Director, CAARI
Research Reports from CAARI Fellows 

Dr. Artemis Georgiou
 
Edgar J. Peltenburg Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Cypriot Prehistory
The nine-month period I spent as the recipient of the 2020 postdoctoral fellowship, established to honor the memory of the late Edgar J. Peltenburg at CAARI, was highly productive, despite the fact that most of it coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent measures taken to restrain the virus’ spread. Thanks to the fruitful collaboration with CAARI’s director and other members of the staff, I was able to pursue my research on Late Bronze Age Cyprus and Mediterranean interconnections and to produce a significant output of academic publications, presentations and public outreach activities.

The research I undertook at CAARI focused on the study of vessels designated as “Maritime Transport Containers” from the cosmopolitan Late Bronze Age site of Enkomi. These were special-function vessels used for the maritime transport of goods across the Mediterranean, and, as such, they are appreciated as invaluable contributors to the study of the intricate mechanisms involved in interregional commerce. During my fellowship, I was able to make good progress with the typological study of these ceramic remains, which are currently kept at the storerooms of the Larnaca Regional Museum and the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia. This task will be completed and complemented by a series of cutting-edge methodologies, within the framework of a recently launched European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant, for which I am the Principal Investigator. The ERC research project I have secured was established in June 2021 at the Archaeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus, with a budget of 1,25 million euros and a team of seven research associates. The project will study and record Maritime Transport Containers from multiple sites in Cyprus and beyond, and will employ a set of interdisciplinary methods to determine the vessels’ typology, place of origin, date, function, capacity, marking strategies and their depositional histories. In the five-year course of my ERC fellowship, I will continue to collaborate closely with CAARI, for the implementation of the research tasks entailed in this large-scale project and for the co-organization of specialized workshops. We will also make use of CAARI’s petrographic equipment, for the preparation of thin sections and the microscopic analysis of selected samples.

During the course of my fellowship at CAARI, I also delivered a public lecture as part of the Institute’s lecture series in November 2020, presenting the results of my research on an intriguing class of storage vessels from Late Bronze Age Cyprus, namely pithoi bearing cylinder-seal impressions with elaborate scenes in relief. The event was held online and is available on CAARI’s YouTube channel (CAARI lecture by Dr Artemis Georgiou - YouTube)
In addition to my academic output, I visited the Primary School of Kissonerga village, where I had the opportunity to give a short presentation to the children of the third grade. During my visit, I stressed the need to be knowledgeable and respectful of the past, and I also addressed the importance of the archaeological remains excavated in the village of Kissonerga. The children really enjoyed the activities I had prepared for them, like the fun quizzes and hands-on activities involving the construction of Bronze Age figurines in clay! You can see one of the children at work here.

One of the children at Kissonerga with a figurine
Dr. Ronaldo G. Gurgel Pereira
2021 CAARI Scholar in Residence
CHAM – FCSH, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon
I am proud to present this short notice as the 2021 CAARI Scholar in Residence Fellow. Between September 28th and August 1st, I studied Iron Age scarab seals/amulets from Aya Irini at the Cyprus Museum and CAARI library.

During the Cypro-Archaic I (early 8th century BC), Cyprus experienced a dramatic increase in the use of personal scarab seals. Note that from the 8th century BC onwards, the commercial relations between Cyprus and the Levant saw a significant increase. In that sense, Ayia Irini scarabs offer an interesting case study. One third of those finds are made of steatite and other stones. Some of them are likely Egyptian imports, while the higher percentage points to a locally made production. 

The scarabs from Agia Iria are mostly votive finds from temple areas. They came from the so-called ‘temenos’ area, distributed in layers from periods 4 and 5 – i.e., Cypro Archaic I and II (8th – 5th centuries BC). Most of the material seems to have been made locally, suggesting a strong link with the East. Their iconography and style combine Egyptian and Egyptianizing motifs and scenes, which points to a Levantine influence. The strong commercial and cultural connection of Kition with Tyre justifies a common cultural preference for typological features, particular materials, and an iconographic repertory.
Scarabs likely produced in Cyprus and Tyre present parallels to others which surfaced in Sardinia, Italy, and Tunisia. As their motifs and scenes are variations on a limited number of themes, the idea of a single stylistic group gains strength. My project aimed at problematizing the style, meaning and dating of those scarabs’ iconography. Hopefully, it shall contribute to the better understanding of their typology and may contribute to the study of Egyptian and Egyptianizing influences in the Iron Age I-II workshops from Cyprus.
The corpus material was found by the Swedish team during the 1940s, and since then, it has been kept on display at the Cyprus Museum. Hence, during my stay at CAARI, I visited the Cyprus Museum often to take pictures and to produce drawings of the material. The staff of the museum were very supportive and amicable. It is beyond my ability to describe in adequate terms how amazing their storage room is. I truly hope they will find a way to put more of their material on display in the future. I had access to all the Iron Age scarabs on display, instead of the strict list I submitted prior my arrival at Cyprus. Thus, I could prepare images and drawings of many other provenances, chronologies, and types, saving them for later use in the classroom.

Normally, a complex scarab scene is carved on a surface of ca. 1,0 – 2,0 cm length. So, drawing the objects enables us to observe details that a picture would fail to reveal. You can see my work in progress in the two photographs here:
Iron Age scarab seals (Cyprus Museum)
Photography and drawing practice at 
         the Cyprus Museum 
Once I prepared short notes on every scarab from my original corpus, I was able to explore the library at CAARI. There I found extensive bibliography regarding Middle and Late Bronze palatial iconography from Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean in general. Plus, the vast number of titles regarding Cyprus archaeology was crucial for my studies. I had access both to the traditional references and to the latest updates on Late Bronze and Iron Age Cyprus.

Keeping up with the State of the Art, at CAARI Library
Finally, it is important to mention that at CAARI I also have met new friends. I would like to thank Dr. Lindy Crewe and her staff for the warm-hearted hospitality. My best regards also to my dear colleagues, the fellows and other residents, with whom I spent some quality time debating the Phoenician presence in Cyprus, and other subjects about life, goals, and dreams. May they all prosper on their paths.

Research Reports from CAARI Graduate Student Fellows 

Caroline Barnes
 
The Helena Wylde Swiny and Stuart Swiny Fellowship

The University of British Columbia
Covid’s curious geometry has it that proximity is at once the pandemic’s scourge and its solution-- physical closeness and gathering are a conduit for the virus’ spread, yet community and coalescence are also integral pillars of sanity and solidarity. Living within this delicate paradox for the last year, I have grown to appreciate the otherwise mundane notion of being around others, and take with great care the presence of company. My time at CAARI as a Helena Wylde Swiny and Stuart Swiny Fellow was particularly special in the fact that I was able to take such care of company (and good company at that). I spent my first year of graduate school online, far away from instructors and peers at the University of British Columbia, which at least was isolating, and at most discouraging. I feel, though, that my vigor has been restored, and that I continue on not only with a better developed Master’s thesis, but able to draw from the replenished well of enthusiasm essential to keeping one motivated and excited not only during a pandemic, but in academia generally. 

My summer’s research was initially motivated by the primary question: Are inherently mutable modes of ethnicity materialized in the enduring built environment at Kition? While I hope to give answers unabridged in the completion of my MA thesis, my stay at CAARI laid critical groundwork. I spent most of my time in the library assessing excavation reports, as well as considering how reuses of building material lend insight into local world views.

I chose to study Kition not only because of its monumental architecture, preserved today as a magnificent example of ashlar masonry as you can see in the image here, but also because of the settlement’s supposed population changes; original excavation reports suggested Mycenaean colonization in the
Monumental masonry at Kition
13th century BCE, and later Phoenician colonization around the 9th, after a hundred years of site abandonment. Arguments for both colonization and abandonment have been reconsidered in reevaluations of ceramic, funeral, and textual materials (Smith 2009; Kiely 2005), and my analysis follows suit. I believe that changes in the temple structures at Kition-Kathari can be attributed more convincingly to local cultural processes than to abrupt influxes of foreign populations. This is evidenced particularly by the (re)use of ashlar blocks and stone anchors in Kition’s buildings, which demonstrate enduring communal perceptions and suggest that local world views remained importantly materialized over time.
Going forward, I will continue to explore how material reuse reflects distinct materialities at Kition, maintaining social memory and informing conceptions of identity and personhood (both better concepts than my initial idea of “ethnicity”). Moreover, I follow the lead of my supervisor, Dr. Kevin Fisher, and apply the quantitative spatial approach of space syntax in order to elucidate the relationship between transformations in the built environment and the people inhabiting it.

Without my time at CAARI, my thesis would lack the comprehensive context that I was able to find during my days spent in the library and on excursions around the island. And moreover, I would certainly be without the acquaintances of scholars whose work I have long admired, the newfound and delightful friendships I have forged with the other residents, and the more assured sense of self I have gained as a student of archaeology. My sincere thanks to everyone at CAARI for continuously fostering an environment of scholarly and friendly support, and of course to Laina and Stuart Swiny, whose support allowed me these opportunities.

Maria Hadjigavriel
The Danielle Parks Memorial Fellowship
Leiden University
My time at CAARI as the Danielle Parks Fellow was very productive, although amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. During June 2021 I was able to travel to Cyprus and stay at CAARI for a month, studying hundreds of pottery sherds at the Cyprus Museum and enjoying the library.

The project carried out during this fellowship was focused on the macroscopic study of pottery assemblages from late prehistoric sites of northern and central Cyprus dating to the Late Chalcolithic (ca. 2900/2700-2400 BCE) and Philia Phase (ca. 2400-2350/2250 BCE). More specifically, by reassessing pottery wares and comparing them to well-studied assemblages of the same period from western Cyprus, the transition from the Late Chalcolithic into the Philia Phase was investigated. This project has been conducted within the framework of my PhD research “Cyprus in Context: Reconstructing Cultural Interactions in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Third Millennium BCE”, which investigates how archaeological artifacts and associated production technologies were embedded in cultural contexts of the eastern Mediterranean and especially Cyprus over the Late Chalcolithic and Philia Phase.

Thanks to the Danielle Parks Fellowship, I undertook a study of pottery from three sites which date to the Late Chalcolithic period: Ambelikou-Agios Georghios, Kyra-Alonia and Philia-Drakos. These settlements were excavated by Porphyrios Dikaios for the Department of Antiquities in the 1940s and the results were briefly published in one of the Swedish Cyprus Expedition volumes (Dikaios 1962). It should be noted that these sites are located in the now occupied part of the island. Therefore, they are inaccessible to further research and any re-evaluation of the existing material is very important to understand not only the sites themselves, but also their role in the dynamic network of Late Chalcolithic settlements.
In the mornings, I would spend hours on end at the storages of the Cyprus Museum, where I acquired skills associated with the study of Late Chalcolithic pottery, especially the intriguing Red (Black) Lustrous Wares. Then, during the afternoons, I would be in the CAARI library, trying to make sense of the raw data I would gather in the mornings, and read-up on relevant literature. I especially enjoyed living and working with fellow researchers who were always willing to discuss and brainstorm with me, patiently enduring my long pottery-related rants.

One of the main questions of my PhD research has to do with the degrees and nature of interactions between different communities in Late Chalcolithic Cyprus. Pottery technology is used as the main indicator of these interactions, based on a chaȋne opératoire approach. To put it simply, the more technological similarities between pottery from two sites, the stronger the contacts between the inhabitants. It should be noted that at the time pottery was produced on a household basis and not in workshops. Therefore, investigating pottery technology can illuminate interactions between the communities as wholes and not just between potters. I was happy to confirm that all three of the sites I studied have mainly Late Chalcolithic pottery, with the Red (Black) Lustrous Wares being prominent and quite similar, advocating for strong links between them. Also, I was thrilled to identify some pottery from western Cyprus, supporting my arguments for inter-island connectivity.
Eleanor Q. Neil
The Anita Cecil O’Donovan Fellowship
Trinity College, Dublin
In January 2021, I received the very exciting news that I had been accepted as the Anita Cecil O’Donovan fellow at CAARI. At that point, it was nearly impossible to imagine that I would be able to leave the five kilometers surrounding my Dublin apartment, let alone make it all the way to Cyprus. However, as vaccination became more widespread and travel restrictions eased, that impossibility became a reality, and on July 1, I arrived in Nicosia.

My PhD, which I am undertaking at Trinity College Dublin under the supervision of Prof. Christine Morris, focuses on community engagement with archaeology. Through my thesis, I explore the ways in which non-expert stakeholders engage with and impact upon archaeological practice and interpretation in Cyprus. The structure of this work is currently in three parts: digital engagement; in-person interactions; and theoretical structures (which I am calling multivocal narrative creation, but in reality has more layers and may well require a name change). I have the great privilege of working with Dr. Athanasios Vionis and Dr. Giorgos Papantoniou on the Settled and Sacred Landscapes of Cyprus project and have been looking at their chosen methodologies of engagement. While this season was focused on the processing of ceramic artifacts from the previous field seasons, it was vital that I be in place in order to gain familiarity with the project and its finds, as well as meet the folks I will be working with when I return (in January 2022) for longer!

During my time as a resident at CAARI, I also completed and submitted a paper entitled ‘Inclusion and Multivocality: Evaluating Community Archaeology’ for the conference proceedings from the 17th Annual Meeting on Postgraduate Cypriot Archaeology (PoCA). In this paper, I explored the uses of the digital space in two very different case studies: Pathways to Heritage: Community Heritage and the Archaeology of Movement in the Adelphi Forest, Cyprus (PATH) and the website (or web-archive) of the excavations from the Levi Jordan Plantation in Brazoria, Texas. Essential to completing this paper was the time I was able to spend in the CAARI library.

The wonderful, collegial environment in the library and in the hostel was not only beneficial to my work — inspiring me in a way that I had not felt in a long time, through the frustration and stultification of interminable lockdowns — but also brought new buoyancy into my personal outlook. Finding peers who came from a wide range of geographic and academic backgrounds, who were enthusiastic about their work and encouraging of mine was truly a gift after the isolation and constant anxiety brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. 
Enjoying colleagues: Eleanor with Eric Chabert, Maria Hadjigavriel and Caroline Barnes 


Eleanor with Maria Hadjigavriel and Caroline Barnes 
Remembering Valued Friends
Onisiforos Loukaides 
Alan Simmons
CAARI Trustee and Professor Emeritus, University of Nevada Las Vegas

 It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Onisiforos Loukaides (known to most simply as Oni). Oni worked on rescuing the material culture of Palaeopaphos for 40 or so years and was Senior Technician of the Department of Antiquities at the Palaeopaphos Museum (“Temple of Aphrodite” museum) in Kouklia for many of those. In that role, he essentially oversaw the museum until his recent retirement, when his equally impressive wife Maro assumed the role.
 
Oni was a true hospitable Cypriot, and we are stunned by his passing. We offer our deepest condolences to Maro and family. On both personal and professional levels, I knew Oni for many years. He greatly helped in logistics and landowner issues on projects at Kholetria Ortos and Ayias Giorkis, and tried, in vain, to get me to learn Greek. Perhaps more importantly, he was the “coordinator” of Renee’s and my wedding at the Manor House of the Museum in 1993. I spent much time with him, and he was a true friend. If there is any consolation, it was that he passed after a typical night in the Kouklia square that he so loved. He will be greatly missed. Yamas Oni. 
Oni and some archaeological friends at Alan and Renee’s 20th wedding anniversary in 2013 at his beloved Kouklia town square. David Pearlman is to his left, Alan and Renee to his right, Paul Croft standing, and Maro at the right.

William Bedenbaugh
Tom Davis
Former CAARI Director and Trustee, Professor at Lipscomb College
 
Bill was a Trustee for a short time during my tenure as Director when he served as Treasurer. He had to resign due to the onset of Parkinson’s Disease.

Bill was a Captain in the US Navy, retiring after 30 years of service in both active duty and reserves. He spent several years teaching Physics at the U.S. Naval Academy, an experience he thoroughly enjoyed. He had earned an advanced degree in Engineering Physics and Nuclear Engineering but worked principally as a Systems Analyst in several organizations over the years. One of his most fascinating occupations was serving as Deputy Director of the War Gaming Center of the National Defense University.

Bill was a man of principle and dedicated much of his life to helping young people become responsible citizens. He enjoyed working with the Boy Scouts of America. An Eagle Scout himself, he served as scout leader of a troop For over 30 years. Bill was a man of deep faith, rich in his spiritual formation and respected for his knowledge of the Bible. An ordained Elder in the Presbyterian tradition, he participated in many church-related activities, even in his last days. It was through our shared church experience in Maryland that Bill became interested in CAARI.

Join us in sustaining CAARI’s dynamism!
November 30 is GIVING TUESDAY
 
Please remember CAARI in your GIVING TUESDAY benefactions. US members of CAARI’s mailing list will soon receive a postcard calling attention to GIVING TUESDAY. You can give online at the Web site below, or by mail to CAARI, 209 Commerce Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. We’re using GIVING TUESDAY to raise money for CAARI’s fellowships. It is impossible to over-emphasize the fellowships’ importance to CAARI: they bring exciting people into our community, and help draw stimulating minds to the study of the eastern Mediterranean world.
 
Just look back over this news-flash! Each of the fellowship reports here contains within it an individual story of overcoming pandemic roadblocks. In each case, CAARI’s support was crucial, both humanly with its collegial atmosphere and intellectually with its outstanding library and staff. CAARI’s special strength and resilience come out so clearly here. It, too, after all, has confronted daunting roadblocks, but has sustained its human buoyancy and professional energy throughout. We should all feel proud of what it has achieved!
 
Let that pride spill over into generosity. CAARI has done amazingly—but the pandemic is not over, the challenges persist, and throughout Academe the aftershocks of pandemic stress are crippling the institutional support systems CAARI has traditionally relied on. CAARI needs its friends as badly as ever now. Support us on GIVING TUESDAY:

If you are a younger scholar, like the ones who reported here, let that pride spill over into gratitude. Show that you recognize and appreciate the way CAARI helps younger scholars like you, who share your belief in the importance of Cyprus and its eastern Mediterranean region. We need your support especially, and will be deeply appreciative of all that you can give. NEVER discount the power of a small gift! Support us on GIVING TUESDAY:

To all our valued donors: Look at the intellectual work that your help is fostering here. This is what we exist for. We thank you for all that you have contributed to CAARI’s work. To all who help CAARI sustain this potent mission: thank you for your generous participation!