Village Potters of the Troodos Mountains: Ceramic Production in Agios Demetrios, Cyprus 1891-2002
Forthcoming
Series: Monographs 84ISBN: 978-1-950446-50-6
Publication Date: May 2024
Price: $96.00
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Gloria London
This volume is a study of four generations of female potters working in a remote Cypriot mountain village. Their coil-built jars, jugs, cookware, beehives, ovens, and decorative pots are the subject of Gloria London’s ethnoarchaeological research, including her quantitative data on pot dimensions, production rates, firing times, and rate of loss. The material evidence of potting practice is informed by 40 years of ongoing observation and conversations with the potters and their families. The history of production encapsulates the rich diversity of responses to economic and social challenges of individual potters, their extended families, and social networks within and between the mountain villages of the recent past. This addition to the archaeology of rural landscapes and preservation of the intangible cultural heritage of the Troodos will serve archaeologists worldwide who are concerned with craft specialization and standardization, learning frameworks, markings on pots, identifying production locations, and modelling the potential microhistories of potters that can be postulated from settlement evidence.