FROM MARKING TO WRITING? A PICROLITE INSCRIBED PLAQUE FROM ERIMI IN CYPRUS
Luca Bombardieri, Yiannis Violaris, Demetrios A. Iosephides, Dante Abate, Thilo Rehren, Massimo Perna
This paper focuses on the possibilities inherent in a multi-scalar approach to the investigation of an inscribed picrolite plaque from Erimi (Cyprus), currently kept at the Iosephides collection. Results of macro- and micro-analyses allow for a preliminary interpretation of this unparalleled object in its background. A combination of different analytical data is discussed, including the morphological features and characteristics of the incised signs on an epigraphic ground. A comprehensive analysis of the Erimi plaque can provide us with a possible new element in the picture of social and economic complexity in Cyprus, where the evidence for control and management activities on a broader scale shows an increasing adoption of record keeping tools during the Middle Bronze Age.
Yiannis Violaris is Archeology Officer at the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus.
Demetrios A. Iosephides is an independent scholar.
Dante Abate is a Researcher in archaeology at the Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence in Lemessos, Cyprus
Thilo Rehren is A.G. Leventis Professor for Archaeological Sciences and Director of The Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC), The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia
Massimo Perna is Director of Centro Internazionale per la Ricerca sulle Civiltà Egee “Pierre Carlier”, University of Sassari
Bombardieri L., Violaris Y., Iosephides D.A., Abate D., Rehren T., Perna M., From Marking to Writing? A Picrolite Inscribed Plaque from Erimi in Cyprus, SMEA NS 9, 2023, 9-30.
