Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

"The Chalcolithic period in Cyprus has been known since Porphyrios Dikaios' excavations at Erimi in the 1930s and through the appearance in the antiquities market of illicitly acquired anthropomorphic cruciform figures, often manufactured from picrolite, a soft blue-green stone. The excavations of the settlement and cemetery at Souskiou Laona reported on in this volume paint a very different picture of life on the island during the late 4th and early 3rd millennia BC. Burial practices at other known sites are generally single inhumations in intramural pit graves, only rarely equipped with artefacts. At Souskiou, multiple inhumations were interred in deep rock-cut tombs clustered in extra-mural cemeteries. Although the sites were also subjected to extensive looting, excavations have revealed complex multi-stage burial practices with arrangements of disarticulated and articulated burials accompanied by a rich variety of grave goods. Chief among these are a multitude of cruciform figurines and pendants. This unusual treatment of the dead, which has not been recorded elsewhere in Cyprus, shifts the focus from the individual to the communal, and provides evidence for significant changes involving kinship group links to common ancestors. Excavations at the Laona settlement have furnished evidence suggesting that it functioned as a specialised centre for the procurement and manufacture of picrolite during its early phase. The subsequent decline of picrolite production and the earliest known occurrence of new types of ornaments, such as faience beads and copper spiral pendants, attest to important changes involving the transformation of personal and social identities during the first centuries of the 3rd millennium BC, a topic that forms a central theme of this final report on the site"--

Figurines, Prehistoric --- Prehistoric figurines --- Statuettes, Prehistoric --- Sculpture, Prehistoric

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The aim of this study is to examine Anthropomorphic objects from the Egyptian Predynastic in terms of their original context to determine what role they played in Predynastic burials. A database comprising all provenanced anthropomorphic Predynastic objects has been composed in order to conduct a detailed analysis.

Antiquities, Prehistoric --- Figurines, Prehistoric --- Grave goods --- Burial goods --- Burial objects --- Grave objects --- Ceremonial objects --- Funeral rites and ceremonies --- Prehistoric figurines --- Statuettes, Prehistoric --- Sculpture, Prehistoric --- Prehistoric antiquities --- Prehistoric archaeology --- Prehistory --- Prehistoric peoples --- E-books

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

In this book, Jan J. Boersema reconstructs the ecological and cultural history of Easter Island and critiques the hitherto accepted theory of the collapse of its civilization. The collapse theory, advanced most recently by Jared Diamond and Clive Ponting, is based on the documented overexploitation of natural resources, particularly woodlands, on which Easter Island culture depended. Deforestation is said to have led to erosion, followed by hunger, conflict, and economic and cultural collapse. Drawing on scientific data and historical sources, including the shipping journals of the Dutch merchant who was the first European to visit the island in 1722, Boersema shows that deforestation did not in fact jeopardize food production and lead to starvation and violence. On the basis of historical and scientific evidence, Boersema demonstrates how Easter Island society responded to cultural and environmental change as it evolved and managed to survive.

Prehistoric peoples --- Sculpture, Prehistoric --- Polynesians --- Ethnology --- Pacific Islanders --- Prehistoric sculpture --- Sculpture, Primitive --- Cavemen (Prehistoric peoples) --- Early man --- Man, Prehistoric --- Prehistoric archaeology --- Prehistoric human beings --- Prehistoric humans --- Prehistory --- Human beings --- Antiquities, Prehistoric --- Antiquities. --- Easter Island --- David Island --- Île de Pâques --- Isla de David --- Isla de Pascua --- Isla de San Carlos --- Pâques Island --- Pascua Island --- Rapa Nui --- Rapanui --- Islands of the Pacific --- Civilization. --- Sculpture --- Primitive societies