Monumentality, Place-making and Social Interaction on Late Bronze Age Cyprus - (Volume 17) - Kevin D. Fisher

Monumentality, Place-making and Social Interaction on Late Bronze Age Cyprus - (Volume 17) - Kevin D. Fisher

Spaces Become Places: Monumental Place-making and Social Interaction in the Late Cypriot Bronze Age

Monumentality, Place-making and Social Interaction on Late Bronze Age Cyprus - (Volume 17) - Kevin D. Fisher

Kevin D. Fisher [+-]
University of British Columbia
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Kevin D. Fisher is Associate Professor of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology in the Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies at the University of British Columbia. He has been involved in archaeological fieldwork in Cyprus, Greece, Jordan, Peru, Guatemala, Canada, and the US and is currently Co-director of the Kalavasos and Maroni Built Environments (KAMBE) Project in Cyprus. He is co-editor of Making Ancient Cities: Space and Place in Early Urban Societies (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

Description

In Chapter 8, I synthesize the results of these micro-scale analyses through a discussion of how monumental places were created and used. This begins with an examination of the materiality of monumental construction, taking a chaîne opératoire approach that considers the affordances and meanings of building materials. I focus mainly on how ashlar masonry came to be such an effective means of materializing monumentality and elite identity, before considering the significance of other materials, including rubble masonry, mudbrick, plaster, and wood. This is followed by a discussion of observed patterns in the spatial configuration and architectural properties of LC monumental buildings, particularly in terms of potential locations for various types of social interaction. I frame the rest of the synthesis in terms of how Late Cypriot monumental buildings were places of ritual performance, focusing on the commensal politics of feasting, which could be used to create and display social distance between host and guest or downplay difference as a means of promoting wider community identities. Cultic practice worked in a similar manner while adding an additional dimension of legitimation. I conclude the chapter by exploring the relationship between monumentality, identity and social memory during the Late Bronze Age, emphasizing the interplay of human and material agency in the creation of memorable, embodied experiences.

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Citation

Fisher, Kevin . Spaces Become Places: Monumental Place-making and Social Interaction in the Late Cypriot Bronze Age. Monumentality, Place-making and Social Interaction on Late Bronze Age Cyprus - (Volume 17). Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 250-293 Mar 2023. ISBN 9781845534042. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=44060. Date accessed: 07 Oct 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.44060. Mar 2023

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