Unfolding beeswax use in Neolithic and Chalcolithic Cyprus through molecular analysis of lipids extracted from ceramic containers

Roumpou, Maria; Voskos, Ioannis; Kalogeropoulos, Nick; Mantzourani, Eleni

doi:10.1007/s12520-021-01322-3

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Beeswax can be applied post-firing to make the vessel water resistant because of its hydrophobic nature [ 1 ]. This has been frequently suggested in ORA studies that identified beeswax [ 9 , 21 , 30 , 44 , 84 ]. A beeswax sealant would benefit vessels meant to store liquids, and correspondingly, beeswax biomarkers were identified in vessel forms related to storage and liquids—jars in this study and amphorae, juglets, flasks and chalices in previous studies [ 24 , 44 , 84 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Bee products in the prehistoric southern levant: evidence from the lipid organic record

et al. 2021

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Beehive products have a rich global history. In the wider Levantine region, bees had a significant role in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and intensive beekeeping was noted in Israel during the Biblical period when apiaries were first identified. This study investigates the origins of this extensive beekeeping through organic residue analysis of pottery from prehistoric sites in the southern Levant. The results suggest that beehive products from likely wild bees were used during the Chalcolithic period as a vessel surface treatment and/or as part of the diet. These functions are reinforced by comparison to the wider archaeological record. While the true frequency of beeswax use may be debated, alternatives to beehive products were seemingly preferred as wild resources contrasted with the socio-economic system centred on domesticated resources, controlled production and standardization. Bee products only became an important part of the economic canon in the southern Levant several millennia later.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Bee products in the prehistoric southern levant: evidence from the lipid organic record

et al. 2021

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“…There is also not evidence from the prehistoric period that equid dairy was consumed, even though donkey milk is part of various products made in Cyprus today. Another important non-mammal ante mortem product comes from bees in the form of honey and wax, the use of which has now been demonstrated for as early as the CN (Roumpou et al 2021).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformations and deep time

Recht

2023

cchyp

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This paper examines human-mammal relations in prehistoric Cyprus, from the Late Palaeolithic to the end of the Bronze Age (ca 11,000-1100 BCE). The study uses faunal remains and their distribution based on published NISP data. Most mammals came to the island with humans, travelling across the eastern Mediterranean on journeys that occurred throughout the millennia -the nonhuman animal species arriving in this manner included pigs, dogs, cats, foxes, cattle, goats, sheep, deer, donkeys and horses, while mice were probably the only mammal endemic to the island surviving past the Late Epipalaeolithic. The interaction between mammals and humans were varied, complex and dynamic, and their transformations over time developed in a non-linear manner.They are revealing not only of subsistence strategies, but also of human knowledge and engagement with their broader environment. . L'étude se fonde sur les éléments de faune et sur leur distribution, sur la base des données publiées sur le nombre de spécimens identifiés (NISP). La plupart des mammifères sont arrivés sur l'île avec des humains, voyageant à travers la Méditerranée orientale lors de déplacements qui ont eu lieu pendant des millénaires -parmi les espèces animales non humaines arrivées de cette manière on compte porcs, chiens, chats, renards, bovins, chèvres, moutons, cerfs, ânes et chevaux, tandis que les souris furent probablement le seul mammifère endémique de l'île qui survécut après l'Épipaléolithique supérieur. Les interactions entre les mammifères et les humains étaient variées, complexes et dynamiques, et leurs transformations dans le temps ont été non linéaires. Elles éclairent non seulement des stratégies de subsistance, mais aussi les connaissances et l'engagement des communautés humaines avec leur environnement plus large. Résumé. Cet article examine les relations entre humains et mammifères à Chypre à l'époque préhistorique, du Paléolithique supérieur à la fin de l'âge du

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Dietary continuation in the southern Levant: a Neolithic-Chalcolithic perspective through organic residue analysis

Chasan

Spiteri

Rosenberg

2022

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Unfolding beeswax use in Neolithic and Chalcolithic Cyprus through molecular analysis of lipids extracted from ceramic containers

Cited by 4 publications

References 38 publications

Bee products in the prehistoric southern levant: evidence from the lipid organic record

Bee products in the prehistoric southern levant: evidence from the lipid organic record

Transformations and deep time

Dietary continuation in the southern Levant: a Neolithic-Chalcolithic perspective through organic residue analysis

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