Open Collections

Abstract

The Late Bronze Age (LBA) (ca. 1700-1100 BCE) site of Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios (KAD), along the southern coast of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea, holds the largest collection of unfired clay ovoid objects from one deposit within the region. Approximately 850 complete objects have been excavated alongside hundreds of fragmented objects that have been tentatively identified as “sling bullets”. This thesis examines these unfired clay objects using the chaîne opératoire approach which views items as a lifecycle, beginning with their “birth” as raw material and ending with their “death” through discard, to understand their use within the community as well as to determine if there was manufacturing standardization of these objects across Cyprus. This thesis provides a systematic analysis of unfired clay sling bullet corpora from LBA sites across Cyprus, including Enkomi, Kition and Hala Sultan Tekke, to compare both physical and contextual aspects of the corpora. The physical analysis of the objects includes assessing their shape, measurements, and weight to determine whether there was consistency in the manufacturing process. Experimental archaeology was also conducted to understand sling bullet manipulation, manufacturing time and aerodynamic considerations. The contextual analysis of the corpora assesses the find spots and the surrounding finds to determine the possible uses of the sling bullets within LBA communities. Sling bullet corpora from other periods will also be assessed to determine consistency of sling bullet manufacturing throughout antiquity and in the wider Mediterranean. I argue that large corpora of unfired clay sling bullets within LBA sites in Cyprus demonstrate consistency in the manufacturing process, attesting to specialization and shared knowledge of sling ballistics to ensure maximum effectiveness and accuracy of the weapon. The contextual evidence of these corpora demonstrate that the sling was likely used for hunting, warfare or ritual activities. At KAD, it is evident that these objects were sling bullets and I argue they were either used for hunting related to ritual practices or in preparation for an attack prior to the site’s abandonment at the end of the Late Cypriot IIC (LC IIC) phase (ca. 1200 BCE).