The Power of Porcelain: Authority and Landscape in Early Modern Cyprus

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the distribution of porcelain within rural Cypriot settlements. The source data used for this project are derived from the Troodos Archaeological and Environmental Survey Project (TAESP), which was conducted between 2002-2007 by Dr. M. Given, Dr. V. Kassianidou, Prof. A.B. Knapp, and Prof. J. Noller. The porcelain in the TAESP survey universe dated from the Cypriot Ottoman (1571-1878) and Modern (1878-ca. 1960) periods. To investigate if this porcelain material from TAESP reflected the presence of a rural elite habitation, the porcelain related data were organized by settlement type (i.e. Greek, Turkish, mixed, or ecclesiastical) and a proportion-based comparison with the quantity of other Ottoman-Modern tableware was carried out. In doing so, this thesis research attempted to demonstrate that a high proportion of porcelain-to-other-tableware in a particular settlement was an archaeological signature of a rural elite context within the TAESP survey universe. The results strongly suggested that monasteries and industry-rooted villages anchored coexisting realms of authority inhabited by separate classes of local elites, one municipal and one rural, on the social landscape of rural Cyprus. In addition, the results highlighted the economic presence of these locations, as the ritualization of coffee engendered great expense on behalf of the Early Modern consumer and played an important role in the demonstration of authority and status.