Early Iron Age Phoenician Networks: An Optical Mineralogy Study of Phoenician Bichrome and Related Wares in Cyprus

Ancient Phoenicia was fragmented into several, oft-times competing polities. However, the possibility of defining archaeologically the exchange networks of each Phoenician city remains rather unexplored. This paper presents such an attempt, regarding the Early Iron Age (late 12th-9th centuries BC). It is based on an Optical Mineralogy study of about 50 Phoenician ceramic containers in Cyprus, especially those of the ‘Phoenician Bichrome’ group. The latter are commonly employed as a major proxy for tracing the earliest Phoenician mercantile ventures in the Iron Age. This is the first systematic provenance analysis of these wares and the first attempt to pinpoint the regions/polities in Phoenicia which partook in this export to Cyprus. The results are interpreted in a wider context of Cypro-Phoenician interrelationships during this period.