The use of those objects seems to be for everyday or personal use and their value was not much high. This is mainly due to the fact that the Cypriot society was not a central policy administration system, and this led to the creation of independent trade unions, to an organized exchange unit, civilian control of production and distribution of goods. This led to the iron being cheap and accessible to all (creation of a sub-elite society).
As mentioned before, Cyprus is well known for its trading activities with Mediterranean (mainly because of the bronze, luxury goods, wood and ceramic products). But, what led her to start the search of other markets and the promotion of iron during the 11th century B.C, was the breakdown and the interruption of trade relations with the eastern Mediterranean. This was the reason that the Cypriot traders, for their personal benefit, the growth of the economy and mainly for the replacement of the ceramic products market of The East Mediterranean, turned towards Greece and the Aegean islands.
Greece and the Aegean
During the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 12th, there were some disorders and population movements in the area of Eastern Mediterranean, with the Dorian invasion to be the most characteristic. These disorders led to the collapse of the palatial communities (Minoan, Mycenaean) and the end of the glorious Late Bronze Age with the rise of the Dark Ages and the Iron Age.
Information about the Greek society (culture, economy) of the Dark Ages is provided to us by Homer and Hesiod. Unfortunately, though, we cannot rely on Homer, because of the uncertainty of his existence and because the epics seem to reflect the social reality of this age, by focusing specifically on the nobles’ world, way of life and perceptions. Neither can we rely on Hesiod, because in his work gives information about the peasant’s life at the end of 8th century B.C. Because of the vagueness of the above sources, the evidences that allow us to verge on the Dark Ages rely mainly on the interpretation of archaeological evidence, as well as to the study and analysis of household monuments, burial practices that already existed from the Bronze Age. In the Greek and Aegean area, it seems that the monuments of the Bronze Age continued to be predominant during the Iron Age and there were too few newly created settlements.
The Iron Age in Greece and Aegean, although it covers the same period as that of Cyprus, for different reasons, iron’s assimilation was delayed too much. The significant changes mentioned before, were often connected with the arrival of new populations from the north. This view is supported by many, but also have many critics who suggest that the sudden changes cannot be explained only by population changes and that all the elements that characterize the 11th century in Greece may have many different origins (Whitley, 2001: 80).
Those changes compose a set of cultural features that will last until the 8th century, shortly before the beginning of the archaic period. A new key feature of this period is a new technology, this of iron. The use of iron in the production of tools and other objects began even while the use of bronze was particularly prevalent. The objects that made from iron and have been found, are dated back to the 12th century, and are very limited.
The number of iron objects increases during the 11th century (renewal of contact with Cyprus, though which it is very likely that the knowledge of processing of iron arrived in the Greek area) while during the 10th century this increase is dramatic. Until 900 BC the most Greek areas seem to have adopted fully the new technology (Whitley, 2001: 81-82). Moreover, during this time there was a flourishing and intensification of both commercial and cultural relations with the rest Mediterranean, beyond the Aegean borders and trading with the Near East.
The processes that led to the preference of the new material and technology have been the subject of intense debate by many researchers. There have been suggestions related to the reduction in copper stocks (Snodgrass, 1971: 237-239) or tin stocks (Waldbaum, 1978: 67-73). Some suggestions emphasize more the symbolic and social aspects of the new technology (Morris, 2000: 208-218).
For the Iron Age, the evidences that exist concern more the male burials, and primarily the type of “warrior”. This description is due to the grave goods, which, with exception of those in Leukanti and Argos (Argive Hercion, discovery of a gift offering category), are not so rich. Until now the small amount of the data was connected to the suggestions of a significant reduction of the population throughout the Iron Age. However, more recent studies refer to the possibility of some groups of population (poorest adults, women and children - inferior societies) be excluded from socially recognizable archaeological burial practices. This implies that the burials that are found and in which there are grave goods, belong to a special group of society - class of people (Dickinson, 2006: 174-175). An elit-class of people had the privilege of using the iron.
According to the model of the three stages of Sondgrass, in Greece and the Aegean, during the pre-Iron Age and mainly during the middle Protogeometric period (1000-950 BC) – stage 1 and 2 – iron made grace goods can be observed, mainly jewelry and other ornament trinket no bladed objects (like dress pins, rings and fibulas, objects that can easily be made by the use of other metals and materials), but in a small quantity. In Lefkandi, Athens, Argos, Rhodes, Knossos during the middle and late Protogeometric period there was a lack of use of copper and its replacement with the iron.
Conclusion
The Iron Age is one of the most debated issues among archaeologists. The questions raised are many, such as whether the adoption was smooth from an area to another area, how long did this assimilation take which factors and which motives were responsible for this change. In the case of Cyprus, based on the facts and the archaeological findings, the switching to iron was made for trading purposes, for issues of sovereignty and for the recovery of the lost ceramics market with the suspension of relations with Levant. In no circumstances we can talk about the lack of copper, because Cyprus even during the period of the iron, used to make bronze items and the bronze was the basis for the creation of iron. Cypriots metal workers were those who created the suitable conditions for a new revolution in the trade of iron. In the case of Greece and Aegean, iron was a privilege of the few, whereas in Cyprus was available to a sub-elite society. It can be said that, in Greece there was a lack of copper, because, after the fall of the palatial communities, every contact with the world is cut off. But, after the end of 9th century and the beginning of 8th, a flourishing and regeneration can be observed.
(1760 words without the footnotes and bibliography)
Bibliography
Sherratt, Susan, (1993) "Commerce, iron and ideology: Metallurgical innovation in 12th-11th century Cyprus"
Haarer, Peter, (2001) "Problematising the transition from Bronze to Iron"
Pickles, Sidney and Peltenburg, Edgar, (1998) "Metallurgy, society and the Bronze/Iron transition in the East Mediterranean and the near East"
Morris, Ian, (2000) "' The Bronze Shortage Hypothesis' (Section of Chapter 6-'The Past, the East, and the hero of Lefkandi')"
Morris, I., 2000 Archaeology as Cultural History. (Oxford: Blackwell) (pp.208-238).
A.M. Snodgrass. The Dark Age of Greece (1971/200) ch. 5
A.M. Snodgrass, ‘Cyprus and the beginnings of iron technology in the earliest Mediterranean” 1982
A.M. Snodgrass The coming of Iron Age in Greece: Europe’s earliest bronze/iron transition’ (1989)
T.A. Wertime & J.D. Myhly, The coming of the age of iron (1980)
Whitley, J. The Archaeology of Ancient Greece. (2001) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Desborough, V. R. d’ A.1972 The Greek Dark Ages. London: Benn.
Dickinson,2006 The Aegean from the Bronze Age to Iron Age. London: Routledge.
Coldstream, J. N., 1977 Geometric Greece. London: Benn
Waldbaum, J. C., 1978 From Bronze to Iron: The Transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in the Eastern Mediterranean
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regarded as precious metal of the sky{ Mari texts, Syria-early 2nd millennium}, “black iron [of the sky]” {Hittie texts, early 14th century} “iron of heaven” {Egyptians texts,13th century}, Greek “sideros”- first attested in Homeric epics, terminus ante quem C. 700 B.C., cograte with Latin “sidera”= stars/heavenly bodies (Pickles, Sidney and Peltenburg, Edgar, p.78- 1998, also see S. Sherratt, p.64- 1993)
In the East Mediterranean, the characteristics of the Iron Age and the iron objects techniques of construction seems to be the same with the one of Cyprus. Important monuments, in which there were found iron objects, are the Tell Bderi and Tell Sheikh Hamad in Syria, Cape Gelidonya in Turkey and Tell es-Sa’idiyeh in Central Jordan Valley, areas that had trading relations with Cyprus.
Για απόψεις σχετικές με στοιχεία χαρακτηριστικά μιας Δωρικής εισβολής από τα βόρεια βλ. Desborough,
1972: 106-111 - Snodgrass, 1971: 311-313.
Βλ. επίσης άρθρο του Ian Morris, Deposition and the Formation of the Greek Iron Age. Man, 24, (1989) σελ. 502-519) Σημαντικά εγχειρίδια για την Εποχή του Σιδήρου παραμένουν αυτά των Snodgrass (1971 & 2000) Coldstream (1977) και Desborough (1972). Επίσης ο (Whitley, 2001 κεφ.5) προσφέρει μια πιο πρόσφατη επισκόπηση αναφερόμενος και στις κοινωνικοπολιτικές συνθήκες της περιόδου
Για συζήτηση σχετικά με την κριτική που ασκήθηκε στην ιδέα του να συνδέει κανείς τον αριθμό των ταφών με μείωση ή αύξηση του πληθυσμού συζήτηση γίνεται στα έργα των Morris (1987) & Whitley (1991). Επίσης βλ. Dickinson, 2006: 174-175 & Whitley, 2001: 99.
Snodgrass (1971) analyzed a pattern of three development levels of iron’s technology. According to that, at the first stage, man came in contact with the new metal and used it in small amounts. It had semi-precious value and was owned by the highest caste of nobles. At the second stage, because of the lack of bronze, started a more systematic experimentation of the iron (Peter Haarer 2001). Finally, at the third stage, there has been a complete replacement of the bronze by the iron.