The red painted Middle Neolithic vases from the Cave of Cyclops in the northern Sporades

A group of deep pots with red painted canvas and weaving-inspired motifs from the Cave of Cyclops on the island of Youra, north Aegean, excavated by A. Sampson, has been the focus of a long study, including my thesis. The pots are partly preserved, were found in a dark humid area of the deep cave’s interior, next to a small water reservoir, and are dated to the Middle Neolithic period (about 5800-5600 BC). Together with admiration for the Neolithic potter’s technical expertise, who had achieved a high level of accuracy regarding the decoration motifs and their syntax, a series of questions arise: may the prehistoric islanders have depicted those complicated motifs from weaved prototypes and what would these patterns mean for them? Who brought those impressive vases to the cave, where from, and why? What is the possible association between the use of those pots and the particular area in the cave where they were deposited?

This project has taught me that in archaeology we learn more by asking questions and that answers are utopic. What do ‘ceramic style’, ‘identity’ and ‘function’ actually mean concerning the Cyclops pottery?

I have supposed that these vases have been transported to the island of Youra and finally the cave by boat from the neighboring island of Kyra-Panagia where older research had discovered an open settlement of the same date and similar pottery. I believe that, although painted, Cyclops’ vases were made for some practical use too, but that their contents have been very special to justify such investment. I am still working on the idea that these vessels may have been transported to the cave as part of some symbolic act. Who were the actors and what symbolism did they carry? Could the ceramic patterns identify with a particular social group? Is it possible that the immediate evocation of weaving and embroidery on these certain motifs suggest that this group was in a particular way associated with those crafts? Whatever the explanation, the Cyclops red-painted pots are meaningful materialities, contextually specified within a certain social and personal sphere in their Middle Neolithic past, but also re-interpreted within a contemporary biography which is expanding and reassessed, as is obvious by comparing my subsequent papers.