Another ASOR Abstract: Roman Lamps from Northwest Cyprus

I know that my posts here have become increasing far afield from my core training in Mediterranean archaeology, but as my summer plans take shape it feels useful to remember (for myself? for my readers?) that I’m trying to keep a toe in the Mediterranean archaeology game.

Scott Moore and I plan to complete some work at Polis on Cyprus this summer including our basic study of a kiln installation and an assemblage of lamps. For our preliminary report on the site, go here. As a little extra motivation, we’ve submitted an abstract to the ASOR annual meeting:

Roman Lamps from Northwest Cyprus

Princeton University’s excavations at the site of Polis (ancient Arsinoe and Marion) in northwestern Cyprus have produced a robust assemblage of ceramic evidence from the Roman and Late Roman periods. These sherds derive from a range of secondary contexts along the northern side of the city and offer a unique perspective on the ceramics used and discarded in the Roman and Late Roman city. These excavations also provided insights into local ceramic production with the discovery of an Early Roman ceramic kiln cut into the side of a shallow gully in the industrial area to the north of the city. Later in the Roman period, the kiln was abandoned and covered over with a large levigating pool and workshop in a second phase of industrial activity at the site. Unfortunately, there is little direct evidence for the product of this kiln which was filled in soon after its abandonment, and the kilns from the second phase of activity at the site were not discovered. These excavations, however, produced a remarkably homogeneous deposit of Roman lamps. While these lamps are in a secondary context and cannot be connected archaeologically to the kilns, the distinctiveness of the deposit suggests that the lamps were produced locally, and a significant quantity of the lamps come from various generations of the same mold. The types of lamps present in this deposit are relatively rare elsewhere at the site suggesting that this concentration reflects a deliberate activity undertaken by the city’s inhabitants.