LIME PLASTER USE AT LATE BRONZE AGE KALAVASOS-AYIOS DHIMITRIOS (CYPRUS): EVIDENCE FOR APPLICATION-SPECIFIC RECIPES AND THE CREATION OF SOCIAL SPACE

This study explores the social processes associated with the transition to urbanism and explores the entangled relationship between the architectural creation of social spaces and the use of these spaces as platforms for the creation and negotiation of power and influence (Fisher 2009a, 2009b; Fisher et al. in press). Analysis of pyrogenic lime and gypsum plasters at Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios was carried out using high-resolution microscopic method based on the integration of petrography and soil micromorphology. These techniques are employed to optically examine in-situ and oriented plaster samples in laboratory thin section. Laboratory FT-IR analysis was applied selectively loose sediments to obtain spectroscopic data when necessary.

Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios is a Late Bronze Age settlement on Cyprus that is notable for having the earliest examples of urbanism and monumental architecture on the island (Philokyprou 2011; Fisher et al. in press) and for being the potential seat of power for the former Late Bronze Age Kingdom of Alashiya (Goren et al. 2003). The Late Bronze Age was a period of an increased connectivity with the eastern Mediterranean mainland (e.g. New Kingdom Egypt and Ugarit; Goren et al. 2003) and marked the beginning of urban society, economy and architecture in Cyprus (Fisher et al. in press).

Following findings that plaster recipe variation is the result of conservative manufacturing traditions and not random variation (Kingery et al. 1988; Love 2011) the results of this analysis has shown that the Late Bronze Age architects at Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios executed different recipes for different utilitarian uses but also that the construction of elite spaces called for complex recipes that extend beyond utilitarian requirements, which can be classified as more “expensive,” resource-draining procedures (Kingery et al. 1988; Love 2011). The variation among plaster recipes is therefore suggested to be deliberate and by design serving both functional and social roles.