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ANKARA UNIVERSITY 

RESEARCH CENTER FOR MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY (ANKÜSAM) 

Publication No: 1 

 

 



 

 

Proceedings of the International Symposium 



 

 

 

The Aegean in the Neolithic, 

Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age 

 

October 13

th

 – 19

th

 1997, Urla - İzmir (Turkey) 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

Edited by 



 

Hayat Erkanal, Harald Hauptmann,  

Vasıf Şahoğlu, Rıza Tuncel 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Ankara 

 2008 




ANKARA ÜNİVERSİTESİ / ANKARA UNIVERSITY 

SUALTI ARKEOLOJİK ARAŞTIRMA ve UYGULAMA MERKEZİ (ANKÜSAM) 

RESEARCH CENTER FOR MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY (ANKÜSAM) 

Yayın No / Publication No: 1 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 



Ön kapak:   İzmir - Höyücek’de ele geçmiş insan yüzü tasvirli bir stel. M.Ö.  3. Bin. 

Front cover:  A stelae depicting a human face from İzmir - Höyücek . 3rd Millennium 

BC. 


Arka kapak:  Liman Tepe Erken Tunç Çağı II, Atnalı Biçimli Bastiyon. 

Back cover:   Early Bronze Age II horse-shoe shaped bastion at Liman Tepe. 

 

 



 

 

Kapak Tasarımı / Cover Design : Vasıf Şahoğlu  

 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 



ISBN: 978-975-482-767-5 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 



 

Ankara Üniversitesi Basımevi / Ankara University Press 

İncitaşı Sokak No:10  06510 Beşevler / ANKARA 

Tel: 0 (312) 213 66 55 

Basım Tarihi: 31 / 03 / 2008

 

 



CONTENTS 

 

Abbreviations …………………………………………………………………………………............ xi 

Preface by the Editors ………………………………………………………………………………… xiii 

Opening speech by the Mayor, Bülent BARATALI …...……………………………………………......... xxiii 

Opening speech by Prof. Dr. Ekrem AKURGAL ……………………………………...............................  xxv 

Opening speech by Prof. Dr. Christos DOUMAS……………………………………………………….. xxvii 

 

 

LILIAN ACHEILARA 

Myrina in Prehistoric Times …..……………………………………………………………. 

  1 


 

VASSILIKI ADRIMI – SISMANI 

Données Récentes Concernant Le Site Prehistorique De Dimini: La Continuité  

de l’Habitation Littorale depuis le Début du Néolithique Récent jusqu’à la Fin du  

Bronze Ancien ……………………………………………………………………………… 

  9 


 

IOANNIS ASLANIS 

Frühe Fortifikationssysteme in Griechenland ………………………………………………. 

35 


 

PANAGIOTA AYGERINOU 

A Flaked-Stone Industry from Mytilene: A Preliminary Report …………………………… 

45 


 

ANTHI BATZIOU – EFSTATHIOU 

Kastraki: A New Bronze Age Settlement in Achaea Phthiotis ……………………………..  

73 


 

MARIO BENZI 

A Forgotten Island: Kalymnos in the Late Neolithic Period ……………………………….. 85 

 

ÖNDER BİLGİ 



Relations between İkiztepe by the Black Sea Coast and the Aegean World  

before Iron Age ……………………………………………………………………………...        109 

 

TRISTAN CARTER 



Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body modification and Political Structure in the  

Late EB I Southern Cyclades ……………………………………………………….............         119 

 

CHRISTOS DOUMAS 



The Aegean Islands and their Role in the Developement of Civilisation …………..............         131 

 

ANTHI DOVA 



Prehistoric Topography of Lemnos: The Early Bronze Age ……………………………….         141 

 

NIKOS EFSTRATIOU 



The Neolithic of the Aegean Islands: A New Picture Emerging …………………..............         159 

 

HAYAT ERKANAL 



Die Neue Forschungen in Bakla Tepe bei İzmir ..………………………………………….        165 

 

HAYAT ERKANAL 



Liman Tepe: A New Light on the Prehistoric Aegean Cultures ……………………………       179 

 

JEANNETTE FORSÉN 



The Asea Valley from the Neolithic Period to the Early Bronze Age ……………..............        191 

 

DAVID H. FRENCH 



Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Pottery of Southwest Anatolia ……………….............        197 

 



Contents 

 

viii 



NOEL GALE 

Metal Sources for Early Bronze Age Troy and the Aegean ……………………….............        203 

 

BARTHEL HROUDA 



Zur Chronologie Südwestkleinasiens in der 2. Hälfte des 3. Jahrtausends v. Chr ...............        223 

 

HALİME HÜRYILMAZ 



1996 Rettungsgrabungen auf dem Yenibademli Höyük, Gökçeada / Imbros ……………..        229 

 

ERGUN KAPTAN 



Metallurgical Residues from Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age  

Liman Tepe …………………………………………………………………………..........        243 

 

ANNA KARABATSOLI and LIA KARIMALI 



Etude Comparative Des Industries Lithiques Taillées Du Néolithique Final Et  

Du Bronze Ancien Egéen : Le Cas De Pefkakia …………………………………………..        251 

 

NECMİ KARUL 



Flechtwerkgabäude aus Osttrakien ………………………………………………………..        263 

 

SİNAN KILIÇ 



The Early Bronze Age Pottery from Northwest Turkey in Light of Results of a  

Survey around the Marmara Sea …………………………………………………………..       275 

 

OURANIA KOUKA 



Zur Struktur der frühbronzezeitlichen insularen Gesellschaften der  

Nord- und Ostägäis: Ein neues Bild der sogenannten “Trojanischen Kultur”……………..       285 

 

NINA KYPARISSI – APOSTOLIKA 



Some Finds of Balkan (or Anatolian) Type in the Neolithic Deposit of  

Theopetra Cave, Thessaly ………………………………………………………………….      301 

 

LAURA LABRIOLA 



First Impressions: A Preliminary Account of Matt Impressed Pottery in the  

Prehistoric Aegean …………………………………………………………………………      309 

 

ROBERT LAFFINEUR 



Aspects of Early Bronze Age Jewellery in the Aegean ……………………………………      323 

 

KYRIAKOS LAMBRIANIDES and NIGEL SPENCER 



The Early Bronze Age Sites of Lesbos and the Madra Çay Delta:   

New Light on a Discrete Regional Centre of Prehistoric Settlement and Society  

in the Northeast Aegean ……………………………………………………........................     333 

 

YUNUS LENGERANLI 



Metallic Mineral Deposits and Occurences of the Izmir District, Turkey …………………     355 

 

EFTALIA MAKRI – SKOTINIOTI and VASSILIKI ADRIMI – SISMANI 



Les Sites Du Neolithique Recent Dans Le Golfe Pagasetique : La Transformation  

Des Sites De L’age De Bronze En Sites Urbains (Le Cas De Dimini) …………………….     369 

 

ELSA NIKOLAOU, VASSO RONDIRI and LIA KARIMALI 



Magoula Orgozinos: A Neolithic Site in Western Thessaly, Greece ……………………….    387 

 

EMEL OYBAK and CAHİT DOĞAN 



Plant Remains from Liman Tepe and Bakla Tepe in the İzmir Region …………………….    399 

 

 




Contents 

 

ix



DEMETRA PAPACONSTANTINOU 

Looking for ‘Texts’ in the Neolithic Aegean: Space, Place and the  

Study of Domestic Architecture (Poster summary) …………………………………..........       407 

 

ATHANASSIOS J. PAPADOPOULOS and SPYRIDOULA KONTORLI – PAPADOPOULOU 



Some thoughts on the Problem of Relations between the Aegean and  

Western Greece in the Early Bronze Age ………………………………………………….       411 

 

STRATIS PAPADOPOULOS and DIMITRA MALAMIDOU 



Limenaria: A Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Settlement at Thasos ………………………     427 

 

DANIEL J. PULLEN 



Connecting the Early Bronze I and II Periods in the Aegean ………………………………..    447 

 

JEREMY B. RUTTER 



Anatolian Roots of Early Helladic III Drinking Behaviour ………………………………….    461 

 

VASIF ŞAHOĞLU 



New Evidence for the Relations Between the Izmir Region, the Cyclades  

and the Greek Mainland during the Third Millennium BC ………………………………….    483 

 

ADAMANTIOS SAMPSON 



From the Mesolithic to the Neolithic: New Data on Aegean Prehistory …………………….   503 

 

EVANGELIA SKAFIDA 



Symbols from the Aegean World: The Case of Late Neolithic Figurines  

and House Models from Thessaly …………………………………………………………...    517 

 

PANAGIOTA SOTIRAKOPOULOU 



The Cyclades, The East Aegean Islands and the Western Asia Minor:  

Their Relations in the Aegean Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age ……………………..     533 

 

GEORGIA STRATOULI 



Soziale une ökonomische Aspekte des Chalkolithikums (spätneolithikum II)  

in der Ägäis aufgrund alter und neuer Angaben ……………………………………………..   559 

 

GEORGE TOUFEXIS 



Recent Neolithic Research in the Eastern  Thessalian Plain, Greece:  

A Preliminary Report ………………………………………………………………………..    569 

 

RIZA TUNCEL 



IRERP Survey Program: New Prehistoric Settlements in the Izmir Region ………………..    581 

 

HANNELORE VANHAVERBEKE, PIERRE M. VERMEERSCH, INGRID BEULS,  



BEA de CUPERE and MARC WAELKENS 

People of the Höyüks versus People of the Mountains ? ……………………………………   593 

 

KOSTAS VOUZAXAKIS 



An Alternative Suggestion in Archaeological Data Presentations:  

Neolithic Culture Through the Finds from Volos Archaeological Museum ………………..   607 

 

Closing Remarks by Prof. Dr Machteld J. MELLINK ……………………………………………….   611     



 

Symposium Programme ………………………………………………………………………………   615 

 

Memories from the Symposium………………………………………………………………………    623 



 

 



 


Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body Modification and Political 

Structure in the Late EB I Southern Aegean 

 

Tristan CARTER 

 

 

ABSTRACT: The late EB I period represents the genesis of Colin Renfrew’s ‘international spirit’, with 

certain Cycladic communities engaging in new forms of exogamous social relations, establishing long-

distance trading partners and / or kinship alliances. Concurrent with, and undoubtedly related to these 

important political developments, was a heightened significance afforded body modification. Employing a 

range of accoutrements, implements and physical resources, the human form was adorned, tattooed, scared 

and painted. It is argued that this phenomenon was not only a reflection of the ‘body politic’ (kin and 

corporate identity, status, gender, etc.), but also formed an element of its creation. This paper focuses upon 

the recent discovery that cinnabar, an extremely rare nd physically ‘esoteric’ compound, was one of the 

pigments being employed at this time and considers the socio-political ramifications of its procurement 

and consumption. 



 

 

Introduction



 

From the Late Neolithic [LN] 

colonisation of the islands onward, the 

inhabitants of the Cyclades were connected 

with their surrounding world

1

. The extent and 



nature of this contact has yet to be fully 

ascertained

2

, though some networks no doubt 



offered great socio-political rewards, not least 

those which enabled certain participants to 

access Balkan metalwork and other prestige 

‘exotica’

3



In late Early Bronze Age I [late EB I], 



there appears to have been a radical change 

with regard to how long-distance movement 

and inter-cultural contact was organised and 

perceived within island society.  In what one 

could term the ‘genesis’ of Renfrew’s EB  II 

‘international spirit’

4

, material culture of 



Cycladic origin and / or influence has been 

recovered from Attica, Euboea, Crete, Lemnos, 

                                                           

                                                          

   This paper is part of a larger study on body 



modification and political structure in the EB southern 

Aegean by the author and Georgia Nakou, though this 

paper and its conclusions are the sole responsibility of 

T. Carter. I also acknowledge the help of Miss Arborry 

Cottier, Miss Laura Labriola, and Mr. A.B. Carter, plus 

the British School at Athens for funding my attendance 

of the conference. Figures 1 & 2 by A.B. Carter, figure 

3 by D. Faulmann. 

1

   Sotirakopoulou 1996, 587-92; Zachos 1987, 124-27; 



1990, 30. 

2

   cf. Torrence 1986; Perlès 1990; 1992. 



3

   Zachos 1990, 30, 34, pl. 4; Nakou 1995, 6-7. 

4

   Renfrew 1972, 451-55; Carter 1998a, 61-63. 



Samos and Western Anatolia

5

. There is reason 



to believe that this spread of late EB I 

‘Cycladica’ was borne by the islanders 

themselves, and that the associated act of 

voyaging had more of a social, than economic, 

value

6

. One theory is that the movement of this 



material culture was embedded within the 

creation of new power structures by certain 

members of Early Cycladic [EC] society. This 

would have been achieved partly by increasing 

and broadening political alliances through 

establishing and controlling new trade networks 

and the exchange of spouses

7

, the emphasis 



being on geographical exogamy and class 

endogamy


8

Concurrent with this late EB I 



reorganisation and reconceptualisation of 

overseas contact, is the appearance of two new 

features in the islands’ material and symbolic 

record. The first is the emergence of a strong 

maritime and celestial iconography (Fig. 1), 

which Broodbank has argued to be a reflection 

of long-distance voyaging’s new social 

standing


9

. The second, is a heightened 

importance accorded body decoration and 

personal display. 

 

5

   Renfrew 1972, 166, fig. 10.4-5; Zapheiropoulou 1984, 



38-40; Day, Wilson & Kiriatzi 1998. 

6

   Broodbank 1989, 1993. 



7

   cf. Broodbank 1992, 543; Macintyre 1983, 375-76; 

Spriggs 1986, 13. 

8

   cf. Leach 1983, 7; Hommon 1986, 57; Kirch 1986; 



Helms 1988. 

9

   Broodbank 1989, 1993. 




Tristan CARTER 

 

120



Body modification - methods and  

materials 

It should be made clear that this paper is 

not claiming that the habit of modifying and 

adorning the body was introduced into Cycladic 

society in late EB I. The LN settlement of 

Saliagos produced a variety of stone and shell 

amulets, beads and bracelets

10

, and copper pins 



were recovered from the Final Neolithic / 

“Chalcolithic” horizons in the Zas Cave, Naxos 

and Ftelia, Mykonos

11

. In turn, stone-bead and 



shell necklaces are known from EB I (early) 

Pelos-Group burials

12

, and there is evidence 



that some of the schematic early EB I figurines 

were painted, presumably reflecting real life 

practices

13

. However, the burial record of the 



late EB I Cyclades has generated a wealth of 

artefacts and materials for decorating and 

altering the body, clearly indicating the 

important role these customs fulfilled in island 

society at this time. Indeed, it is this theme that 

helps to define and link the richest grave 

assemblages of the Plastiras and Kampos 

groups, including Panaghia Tomb 56, Ayioi 

Anargyroi Tomb 5, Kapros Grave D and Louros 

Athalassou Tomb 26

14



The items recovered consist of jewellery 



(Fig. 2a-b), specifically bracelets and necklaces 

made from copper, silver and a particular type 

of greenstone

15

. There are also red and blue 



pigments, plus the pestles, palettes and bowls 

used to prepare them before their application to 

the body, either temporarily as painted 

decoration, or permanently as tattoos

16

. These 


colorants are either smeared on the surface of a 

stone vessel, recovered as small raw nodules, or 

kept within special ceramic containers referred 

to as mini-aryballoi (Fig. 2f)

17



                                                           



                                                          

10

  Evan & Renfrew 1968, 65, fig. 78, pl. XLVI. 



11

  Zachos 1996, 167; Sampson 1997, 8, pl. 12 

12

  Doumas 1977, 16, 86, 95, pls. XXVII,f, XXXIII,h; 



Papathanassopoulos 1981, 137, pl. 64. 

13

  Tsountas 1898, 195, pl. 11,16 & 18; 



Papathanassopoulos 1981, 185, pl. 103. 

14

  Tsountas 1898, 156-57; Doumas 1977, 107-08; 



Renfrew 1967, 6-7; Papathanassopoulos 1961-62, 132-

37. 


15

  Tsountas 1898, 156; Renfrew 1967, 6-7, pl. 4; 

Papathanassopoulos 1961-62, 135, 138, pl. 67g, 71g; 

Doumas 1977, 108, pl. XXXV,h; Arnott 1989. 

16

  Doumas 1977, 17-19; Televantou 1990, 59, pl. 27-28; 



Getz-Gentle 1996, 65-95. 

17

  Ekschmitt 1986, 32 pl. 3; Papathanassopoulos 1961-62, 



132-33, pl. 66g-d. 

In addition there are fine obsidian blades 

(Fig. 2c), that on the basis of their form, 

context, ethnographic and historical parallels, 

almost certainly represent depilatory razors, and 

/ or knives for scarifying the body

18

. Finally 



there is a group of fine pointed metal 

implements (Fig. 2d-e), whose regular asso-

ciation with the aforementioned objects, make 

them eminently suitable candidates for EC 

tattooing needles

19



A partial insight to the nature and visual 

impact of late EB I body modification is 

provided by the paintwork recorded on 

contemporary marble figurines

20

, though the 



details and designs are more clearly seen on the 

folded-arm variants of early EB II (Fig. 3)

21

. In 


depicting jewellery, elaborate hairstyles, body-

paint and tattoos, the painters employed the 

same colorants that accompanied the dead. 

These implements and materials thus 

foreshadow the more commonly referenced EB 

II ‘toilet-kit’

22

, the copper scrapers, tweezers 



and bone pigment containers from Keros-Syros 

Group tombs, a development and elaboration of 

a late EB I phenomenon. The functional 

interpretations accorded the above implements 

are not particularly new

23

, but there has been 



little discussion as to why such a concern for 

body modification should have arisen at this 

juncture. 

 

Embodying political change in the late EB I 



Cyclades 

To sociologists and anthropologists alike, 

the human body represents a fundamental 

medium through which a person may express 

kin and corporate identity, gender, personal 

experience and status

24

. It thus comes as no 



surprise that the practice of body decoration in 

the pre-palatial Aegean has a heritage of 

 

18

  Carter 1994, 1997. 



19

  Cf. Papathanassopoulos 1961-62, 134, pl. 68g; Doumas 

1977, 107, pl. XXXV,i-j, 1990, 163, pl. 166-68; 

Zapheiropoulou 1970, 429. 

20

  Tsountas 1898, 155, 194-95; Doumas 1977, 99. 



21

  Getz-Preziosi & Weinberg 1970; Renfrew 1991, 117-

23; Hendrix 1997/98. 

22

  Branigan 1974, 31-34. 



23

  Blinkenberg 1896, 51-54; Bosanquet 1896-97, 66-67; 

Tsountas 1898, 195, inter alia. 

24

  Blacking 1977; Layton 1989; Gell 1993; Shilling 1993; 



Synott 1993. 


Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body Modification and Political Structure in the Late EB I Southern Aegean 

 

121



millennia, from hunter-gatherer to proto-urban 

societies. The use of pigments is documented in 

Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic contexts

25



while Neolithic sites have produced quantities 

of jewellery and decorated anthropomorphic 

figurines

26

. However, it is the belief of Georgia 



Nakou and the author, that in the late EB I 

Cyclades an accepted mode of symbolic 

behaviour (body modification) was 

appropriated by a few members of society who 

used it in a new and exclusive manner. 

We are not the first to attach importance 

to the role of adornment in late EB I society, as 

Renfrew argued in 1984 that “conspicuous 

display” was a hallmark of the Kampos 

Group


27

. His interpretation focused on the 

notable consumption of silver and copper, 

claiming that in these grave assemblages one 

sees the origins of Cycladic metallurgy. The 

first appearance of metals in the “context of 

display”, rather than utilitarian implements, is 

comparable to how the technology was 

introduced into other areas such as the 

Balkans


28

. Thus, in Renfrew’s model it is metal 

that forms the basis of the Kampos Group’s 

importance, the body serving merely as a means 

through which an individual consumed the new 

political currency. 

This argument can be challenged on two 

fronts. Firstly, there is now good evidence for 

metallurgy in the Cyclades from the LN 

onward


29

, with Nakou arguing that the late EB I 

horizon’s importance relates to the radical shift 

in attitudes towards metallurgy witnessed at this 

time, evidenced through changes in depositional 

behaviour

30

. Secondly, it would be wrong to 



focus on metals as the sole driving force behind 

political change at this time, as the diversion of 

metalwork into the funerary arena represented 

only one means by which existing media were 

employed in new ways to help create, maintain 

and articulate new social orders. The 

heightened political consequence given to 

                                                           

                                                                                     

25

  Koukouli-Crysanthaki & Weisgerber 1996; Honea 



1975; Cullen 1995, 282. 

26

  Karali 1996; Miller 1996; Talalay 1993, 70-72; 



Marangou 1992, 177; Papaefthymiou-Papanthimou 

1997, 23-54. 

27

  Renfrew 1984, 51-53. 



28

  Renfrew 1984, 52. 

29

  Zachos 1990; 1996. 



overseas voyaging has been referred to above

to which can be added the emergence of 

conspicuous production in lithic technology

31

 



and the reconceptualised role of display and 

body imagery. Moreover, one can note a change 

in how island society perceived the human 

body, with a marked break between late EB I 

representations of the human figure and those 

of the later Neolithic and early EB I. The earlier 

figurines’ accentuated and schematised features 

emphasise certain attributes at the expense of 

naturalism, unlike those of the Plastiras and 

Louros groups, which project an image of the 

individual through their clear demarcation of 

heads and faces

32



Although the aforementioned 



accoutrements, implements and materials 

associated with body modification represent the 

‘spirit of the age’, it must be noted, that apart 

from the obsidian blades, they are present in 

only a few late EB I tomb groups. It is therefore 

suggested that the use of this symbolic language 

not only expressed the social being but also 

formed a major factor in the creation of the 

‘body politic’. This is an issue that will be 

returned to at the end of the paper, so at this 

point we shall concentrate on one of this 

practice’s components, the pigments. 

 

Colorants in the Early Cycladic world 

The red colorants commonly seen on the 

marble figurines and vessels of the EC burial 

record have generally been assumed to be 

‘ochre’

33

, an iron oxide readily available in the 



Aegean (Fig. 4). Sources include Kea in the 

northern Cyclades

34

, Lemnos


35

 and Thasos, 

whose outcrops were exploited from as early as 

the Upper Palaeolithic

36



Recent analyses of red pigments on 



‘Cycladica’ have discovered that in certain 

instances the colorant was not ochre but 

cinnabar; for example on some of the EB II 

 

30



  Nakou 1995, 2. 

31

  Carter 1994, 131; 1998a, 71; 1998b, 153-76. 



32

  cf. Papathanassopoulos 1961-62, 135-36, pl. 70; 

Doumas 1977, 99-100, pl. XXXV, a-d; Sotirakopoulou 

1998, 126-38, pl. 13-23. 

33

  Renfrew 1969, 23; Doumas 1977, 90; Blomqvist 1990, 



240. 

34

  Photos-Jones et al 1997. 



35

  Higgins & Higgins 1996, 124-25. 

36

  Koukouli-Crysanthaki & Weisgerber 1996. 




Tristan CARTER 

 

122



folded-arm figurines from the British and 

Metropolitan Museums

37

. At present few of 



these analyses have been published in full, so it 

is difficult to gauge how commonly this 

material was being employed, or the temporal 

and spatial context of its exploitation. Cinnabar 

has been identified, however, on an 

unprovenanced palette from a North American 

museum

38

, that on the basis of parallels from 



excavated contexts should be late EB I in 

date


39

, i.e. the period under discussion. 

                                                          

 

Cinnabar and the Cyclades 

Cinnabar, also known as vermilion, is a 

dense, vivid, red natural mineral, the principal 

ore of the metal mercury

40

. The significance of 



cinnabar’s use in an EC context is arguably due 

to the material’s rarity and its interesting 

physical properties. With regard to the first 

point, the archaeological literature has stated 

that cinnabar is unknown in the Aegean

41



quoting Theophrastus, Pliny and Vitruvius who 

recorded that the Greeks of the classical world 

procured the pigment from the “Cilbian fields 

of Ephesus” (Fig. 4), later turning to the 

Almaden source in southern Spain

42



There is, however, one reference to an 

Aegean source of cinnabar which has hitherto 

gone unnoticed. In 1935 the ancient historian 

Oliver Davies, in his book Roman Mines in 



Europe, claimed to have found cinnabar 

occurring naturally next to one of the most 

important sites in the EC world, Chalandriani 

on Syros


43

. In January 1997 the author 

relocated this alleged source with a colleague 

from the British School at Athens (Fig. 5)

44



With a permit from the Greek Institute of 



Geological and Mining Exploration (IGME) the 

red minerals were sampled, but on analysis they 

 

                                                          



37

  Higgins 1972; Hendrix 1997/98, 8; Carter et alin 



prep. 

38

  Getz-Gentle 1996, 264, pl. 40,b. 



39

  Doumas 1977, 17, fig. 5,b. 

40

  Read 1970, 310-11; Gettens, Feller & Chase 1972, 45-



69. 

41

  cf. Hendrix 1997/98, 8. 



42

  Theophrastus D.L., 58; Pliny N.H., XXXVII, 114; 

Vitruvius D.A. VII, IX, 1; Caley & Richards 1956, 194-

97. 


43

  Davies 1935, 264. 

44

  Miss Arborry Cottier of the Department of 



Archaeology and Department of Geology and Applied 

Geology, University of Glasgow. 

were discovered to be a compound containing 

hematite, not cinnabar. Thus it now seems that 

Davies’ claim was mistaken. Indeed, 

geologically, one should not expect to find 

cinnabar in this vicinity due to the absence of 

geothermal activity

45



Yet evidence for cinnabar in the Aegean 



does exist, having been discovered by panning 

surveys undertaken by IGME. Traces of the 

mineral have been found on Euboea in the 

regions of Kapsouli, Kalliani and Katsaroni

46

; it 


is also recorded on Naxos, Chios and at a 

number of locations on Samos, but in virtually 

all of these instances cinnabar was present only 

in extremely small quantities

47

. Furthermore, 



the samples came from waterborne secondary 

contexts so that we remain ignorant of the 

mineral’s sources. Cinnabar is also quite soft 

and susceptible to reduction during mechanical 

transport, meaning that it is difficult to evaluate 

the size of the source the panning sample 

derived from. 

 

Physical properties and value 

Turning to the mineral’s physical 

properties, it is cinnabar’s brilliant colour that 

commonly forms the centre of discussion. Pliny 

describes it as one of a select group of “vivid” 

colorants, along with azurite, malachite, indigo 

and Tyrian purple, all other pigments being 

referred to as “subdued”

48

. In EC society 



cinnabar’s vibrancy would have distinguished it 

from the more accessible red pigments (iron 

oxides and vegetal dyes), the differences in hue 

and modes of application embodying and 

conveying variant histories, experiences and 

social relations

49

. The pigment’s association 



with silver mining is also recorded

50

, though 



mercuric sulphide does not necessarily correlate 

with the metal. 

While Pliny was at a loss to explain why, 

in Roman society cinnabar had “sacred” 

associations and was deemed to be of the 

“highest importance”, used to paint the face of 

 

45

  A. Cottier pers. Comm. 



46

  Pantoula 1993, 26. 

47

  Papastaurou & Pantoula 1986, 19-20; Pantoula 1994, 



16-17. 

48

  Pliny N.H., XII, 30. 



49

  cf. Sagona & Webb 1994, 133-51. 

50

  Caley & Richards 1956, 198-99. 




Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body Modification and Political Structure in the Late EB I Southern Aegean 

 

123



Jupiter’s statue on holidays and cover the 

bodies of those in “triumphal procession”

51



The literature provides various other 



descriptions of cinnabar’s use, including 

alchemy and pharmacy

52

, with names such as 



“dragon’s blood”

53

, suggesting that cross-



culturally the material was considered 

symbolically potent a

54

nd highly valued . 



                                                          

Though cinnabar’s high regard no doubt 

partly stemmed from its rarity, its worth would 

have also lain in the pigment’s chemical 

properties. Today cinnabar supplies practically 

all commercial mercury

55

. Its extraction is 



relatively easy, achieved in antiquity through 

pounding warmed cinnabar with copper pestles 

in conjunction with vinegar

56

. In certain 



instances mercury naturally exudes from the 

mineral’s surface and with prolonged exposure 

to light, the mineral will turn black, to 

metacinnabar

57

, all of which serves to make 



cinnabar a particularly esoteric resource. 

 

Cinnabar in context - bodies of  



knowledge 

To summarise, while there is increased 

evidence for the occurrence of cinnabar in the 

Aegean, the mineral remains rare and not all 

‘findspots’ may represent deposits large enough 

to have been located and exploited by members 

of Cycladic communities. Many more analyses 

need to be undertaken before we can appreciate 

when the colorant was first introduced into 

island society and the extent and nature of its 

use. It may be that its application was restricted, 

perhaps comparable with the specialised 

treatment of the blue pigments. One might 

expect the red smeared over large marble 

vessels to be ochre or hematite, their 

accessibility making it more appropriate for 

extensive body-painting. Cinnabar may have 

been reserved for special occasions (and 

 

                                                          



51

  Pliny N.H., XXXVI, 111-112. 

52

  Gettens, Feller & Chase 1972, 47 



53

  Pliny N.H., XXXIX, 117. 

54

  Benedetti-Pichler 1937; Barbet 1990; Guichard & 



Guineau 1990. 

55

  Read 1970, 311. 



56

  Theophrastus D.L., 60; Caley & Richards 1956, 204-

05. 

57

  Vitruvius D.A. VII, IX, 2-3; Gettens , Feller & Chase 



1972, 53-55. 

people), limited body decoration and tattooing. 

The latter use is perhaps counter-intuitive, 

given mercury’s poisonous nature, but parallels 

are offered by traditional Japanese methods 

whose tattooing involves cadmium, a similarly 

toxic substance

58



This paper’s discussion of cinnabar, its 

qualities and meaning within Cycladic culture, 

represents only one avenue of research into the 

materials and implements used in late EB I 

body modification. It is argued that the 

mineral’s physical properties and exclusive 

nature must have made it a sought-after and 

precious resource in island society. 

Significantly, similar interpretations can 

be forwarded for many of the other items 

employed to adorn and alter the body during 

this period. For instance, the blue pigment, that 

seems to make its first appearance at this 

time


59

, has been proved, where analysed, to be 

the copper compounds azurite or malachite

60



whose exploitation must have been related to 

the prospection and procurement of metals 

proper

61



As stated above, metalwork itself now 

also makes its first appearance in the Cycladic 

burial record, with the deposition of a wide 

range of objects

62

. In turn, the long obsidian 



blades and the core-pestles that occasionally 

accompany them, are products of a highly 

skilled technological mechanism, one that I 

estimate to have been held by only a handful of 

people in the Cyclades during this period

63



In sum, these items constitute highly 

exotic raw materials requiring restricted and 

often quite complex technical know-how to 

work them. Therefore, while these 

accoutrements and colorants expressed a 

person’s experience, contacts and position 

within society, their role in this political 

construct should not be seen as passive. For 

these implements and materials in themselves 

represented ‘bodies of knowledge’, whose 

procurement, ownership and manipulation 

 

58



  cf. Richie 1973. 

59

  cf. Papathanassopoulos 1961-62, 132-33, pl. 66g-d. 



60

  Renfrew 1969, 23; Thimme 1977, 543-44. 

61

  cf. Freidrich & Doumas 1990. 



62

  Renfrew 1984, 51; Nakou 1995, 2. 

63

  Carter 1998a, 71, 1998b, 153-76. 




Tristan CARTER 

 

124



would have all contributed to the creation of the 

social being. 

 

 

 



TRISTAN CARTER 

British School at Athens 

52 Odos Souedias, GR-76-106  

Athens, GREECE 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body Modification and Political Structure in the Late EB I Southern Aegean 

 

125



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Thimme, J. 1977, Art and Culture of the Cyclades, Karlsruhe. 

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Tsountas, C. 1898, “Kykladika”, Archaiologike Ephemeris, 137-212. 

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Helladic Periods. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Boston University, Boston. 

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Prehistoric Cyclades. Edinburgh: 31-40. 

 

 

 

List of Illustrations: 

Fig. 1: Late EB I Cycladic maritime and celestial iconography. 

Fig. 2: Late EB I Cycladic material culture associated with body modification:   

 a 

- greenstone necklace, b - silver bracelet, c - obsidian blade, d - copper-alloy needle, e - copper-alloy needle with a 

greenstone haft, f - mini-aryballos / pigment container (not to scale). 



Fig. 3: Painted details on an early EB II marble figurine (D. Faulmann, based on Getz-Preziosi 1994, pl. VI). 

Fig. 4: Aegean pigment sources mentioned in the text. 

Fig. 5: Location of Oliver Davies’ alleged cinnabar source at Chalandriani, Syros (map based on Hekman 1991). 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 



Tristan CARTER 

 

128



 


Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body Modification and Political Structure in the Late EB I Southern Aegean 

 

129



 

Document Outline

  • Urla  Kapak
    • 01 Kapak
    • 03 CONTENTS
    • 03_1 CONTENTS sonrası bos sayfa
  • 09 Carter resimli

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