Adam Lindqvist Wadstein

My project will study the exploitation and consumption of marine resources (primarily remains from fish, shellfish and marine mammals) in the early Cypriot society. The chronological perspective will stretch from the first settlers on the island, at the end of the Epipaleolithic period (c. 11.000 BCE) and end with the end of the late Bronze Age (c. 1050 BCE). Focus will be to identify patterns and changes of consumption in relation to the increasing social complexity of the island.

Research on marine exploitation has increased in the Aegean area in the last few years, but from Cyprus a more general overview is still missing.  The existing archaeological material related to marine exploitation is rarely developed upon beyond tables and find lists in archaeological reports. My project aims to collect this published, although spread, material, and to study it using a biographical approach. By identifying different stages in the ”life” of the objects, such as acquisition, preparation, consumption and deposition, the goal is to understand in which social contexts the sea and its resources appear and how they were included in the social life of Cyprus. The ambition with my project and this type of research is to gain an increased understanding of the role that the ocean and its resources served in the prehistoric Cypriot society.