Supervisors info:
Κωνσταντίνος Κοπανιάς, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής Αρχαιολογίας Ανατολικής Μεσογείου, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών.
Μαρία Ιακώβου, Καθηγήτρια Προϊστορικής και Πρωτοϊστορικής Αρχαιολογίας, Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου.
Άρτεμης Γεωργίου, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου.
Summary:
Even though the mortuary record of Cyprus is quite rich during all phases of the Bronze Age, the Cypriote Archaeology of Death remains a relatively unexplored field. Apart from a number of articles, the dissertation and later monograph of Priscilla Keswani are the only published secondary analysis which deals with Cyprus’ mortuary practices in a broad geographical and chronological scale. Despite her focus on the social value of the mortuary practices, she largely disregards the regional social mechanisms which constituted the discrete, cultural identities, found in different parts of the island.
The present master thesis moves towards this direction and deploys the site of Kouklia-Palaepaphos as a case study. In order to analyze the paphian mortuary practices, the utilization of, at least, four minor scales of analysis which pertain to the death-scape, the mortuary structures, the bodies and the grave goods, is considered essential. These four categories which are heavily entangled with one another, are investigated for the purpose of approaching the social meanings behind the mortuary settings and monuments, the spatial capabilities of the mortuary structures, the complexity of the sepulchral programs, the social value of the ancestors and the possible, socio-political changes which were gradually transforming the settlement during the long duration of the Late Cypriote period. This thesis aspires to have moved closer to the two-fold question: Why did the Paphians bury and celebrate their dead under specific conditions and how did the mortuary practices impact the ideological and social cohesion of the hydrological basin?
Keywords:
Paphos, Kouklia-Palaipaphos, Mortuary Archaeology, Late Cypriote Period.
