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ASOR 2021 Virtual Conference contribution discussing Cypriot Elaborate Style glyptics. The paper ... more ASOR 2021 Virtual Conference contribution discussing Cypriot Elaborate Style glyptics. The paper traces the factors which contributed to the modern definition of the group and questions the narrow identification of the seals as diagnostically Cypriot. It is suggested that the distinctive iconographic and stylistic features observed were not the product of a single centralised workshop, but rather intersecting networks of lapidaries and seal users distributed across a broad geographic region.
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Papers by Alexander Donald
Seals without style: unclassified cylinder seals as an understudied assemblage in Late Cypriot glyptic, 2024
In the absence of robust evidence for the use of cylinder seals in Late Cypriot administration, t... more In the absence of robust evidence for the use of cylinder seals in Late Cypriot administration, these artefacts have been understood as symbols of status and identity on the island. Assessments of Cypriot glyptics have focused largely on what have come to be referred to as the Elaborate, Derivate and Common Styles; with these different styles equated with separate social strata on the island. However, these three groups represent only a small proportion of the island’s overall glyptic assemblage. The paper re-evaluates the role of cylinder seals in Late Cypriot society using cylinders which lack preserved representational imagery as a case study. These objects are considered from the perspective of affordances and Information Exchange Theory. It is suggested the visibility of seals across different spatial scales shaped the nature of their cultural entanglement, potentially helping to explain seemingly contradictory trends in the glyptic assemblage.
Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Victoria, 2023
This paper presents results from Trench 4 of salvage excavations undertaken at the Aboriginal pla... more This paper presents results from Trench 4 of salvage excavations undertaken at the Aboriginal place ‘Toolern Creek 17’ (VAHR 7822–3883) in Melton South, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, as part of compliance works. It focuses on analyses of materials recovered from a layer beneath what was initially interpreted as sterile
basal deposit. This deep, lower horizon (Stratigraphic Unit 5) contained rich archaeological evidence of early occupation dated to the transition between the Late
Pleistocene and Early Holocene, c. 13,240–11,270 cal BP. Some finds appear to date from even earlier occupation, most likely c. 17,300–17,110 cal BP. Over 2,000 mainly
quartz and quartzite lithic artefacts were recovered, including a variety of tools—such as grinding stones and possibly hafted, adze-like forms—and substantial evidence for the early use and possible exchange of tachylite. This layer also yielded remarkably wellpreserved fragments of burnt marsupial bone, including kangaroo. Toolern Creek 17 provides important new data for understanding a relatively poorly documented
period in both Victoria and southeastern Australia. It also highlights the archaeological potential beneath apparently ‘culturally sterile’ strata on alluvial terraces.
Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, 2021
This paper presents a new tomb complex of the Late Bronze Age at Palaepaphos-Teratsoudhia in sout... more This paper presents a new tomb complex of the Late Bronze Age at Palaepaphos-Teratsoudhia in south-west Cyprus. Although looted, Tomb 288 yielded a representative repertoire of funerary gifts, including seals and scarabs, ranging chronologically from the very beginning of the Late Bronze Age to Late Cypriote IIC, roughly from 1650 to 1200 BC. Tomb 288 has characteristics which are typical of Late Bronze Age tomb architecture in Cyprus and well known in the Paphos region, as well as aspects which have not previously been observed in any necropolis of the period, such as the large central “pillars” which support the roof in Chambers A and B. The tomb’s finds comprise representative examples of the ceramic production of Palaepaphos for a period of some 400 years and illustrate the wealth of this region during the whole of the Late Bronze Age. The tomb is a significant addition, in particular, to our knowledge of the earliest phase of the city’s existence, a period which is not adequate...
Cypriote Antiquities in the S.O.F.I.A. Foundation Collection, 2021
Cylinder seals were small, spool-shaped stones, each engraved with a unique design. These objects... more Cylinder seals were small, spool-shaped stones, each engraved with a unique design. These objects first appeared in Mesopotamia around 3000 BC before spreading across the Near Eastern world (Collon 1989), arriving on Cyprus at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1700-1050 BC). Relatively few cylinder seals are known from Late Cypriote I (1700-1450 BC) archaeological contexts, but these objects were evidently much sought after later in the Bronze Age (Webb 2002 with references). Many cylinder seals are now known from tombs and settlement contexts dating from the 15th to the 12th centuries BC. These include many imports, but a local seal-making tradition drawing inspiration from Syro-Mitannian seals evidently took hold on the island in Late Cypriote II (1450-1200 BC) (Porada 1948). Scholars commonly divide Cypriote cylinder seals into three broad categories: Elaborate, Derivative and Common Styles (e.g. Porada 1948;
Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome (OpAthRom), 2021
This paper presents a new tomb complex of the Late Bronze Age at Palaepaphos-Teratsoudhia in sout... more This paper presents a new tomb complex of the Late Bronze Age at Palaepaphos-Teratsoudhia in south-west Cyprus. Although looted, Tomb 288 yielded a representative repertoire of funerary gifts, including seals and scarabs, ranging chronologically from the very beginning of the Late Bronze Age to Late Cypriote IIC, roughly from 1650 to 1200 BC. Tomb 288 has characteristics which are typical of Late Bronze Age tomb architecture in Cyprus and well known in the Paphos region, as well as aspects which have not previously been observed in any necropolis of the period, such as the large central “pillars” which support the roof in Chambers A and B. The tomb’s finds comprise representative examples of the ceramic production of Palaepaphos for a period of some 400 years and illustrate the wealth of this region during the whole of the Late Bronze Age. The tomb is a significant addition, in particular, to our knowledge of the earliest phase of the city’s existence, a period which is not adequately known since the focus of recent research has primarily been on the latest phase of the Late Bronze Age and the early part of the Iron Age.
The doctoral dissertation offers a reassessment of cylinder seals from the island of Cyprus, foc... more The doctoral dissertation offers a reassessment of cylinder seals from the island of Cyprus, focusing on those with known archaeological provenance. Cylinder seals were first introduced to Cyprus in the 17th century BCE and largely fell out of use by the end of the Late Bronze Age. Much of the present scholarly understanding of these objects is derived from art historical analysis conducted by Edith Porada between 1948 and 1993. The study builds upon her work, analysing the iconography, formal properties and archaeological contexts of almost the entire published collection of Cypriot cylinder seals.
Conference Presentations by Alexander Donald
Near Eastern Archaeology Foundation Congress 2013, 2013
ASOR 2021 Virtual Conference contribution discussing Cypriot Elaborate Style glyptics. The paper ... more ASOR 2021 Virtual Conference contribution discussing Cypriot Elaborate Style glyptics. The paper traces the factors which contributed to the modern definition of the group and questions the narrow identification of the seals as diagnostically Cypriot. It is suggested that the distinctive iconographic and stylistic features observed were not the product of a single centralised workshop, but rather intersecting networks of lapidaries and seal users distributed across a broad geographic region.
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Seals without style: unclassified cylinder seals as an understudied assemblage in Late Cypriot glyptic, 2024
In the absence of robust evidence for the use of cylinder seals in Late Cypriot administration, t... more In the absence of robust evidence for the use of cylinder seals in Late Cypriot administration, these artefacts have been understood as symbols of status and identity on the island. Assessments of Cypriot glyptics have focused largely on what have come to be referred to as the Elaborate, Derivate and Common Styles; with these different styles equated with separate social strata on the island. However, these three groups represent only a small proportion of the island’s overall glyptic assemblage. The paper re-evaluates the role of cylinder seals in Late Cypriot society using cylinders which lack preserved representational imagery as a case study. These objects are considered from the perspective of affordances and Information Exchange Theory. It is suggested the visibility of seals across different spatial scales shaped the nature of their cultural entanglement, potentially helping to explain seemingly contradictory trends in the glyptic assemblage.
Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Victoria, 2023
This paper presents results from Trench 4 of salvage excavations undertaken at the Aboriginal pla... more This paper presents results from Trench 4 of salvage excavations undertaken at the Aboriginal place ‘Toolern Creek 17’ (VAHR 7822–3883) in Melton South, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, as part of compliance works. It focuses on analyses of materials recovered from a layer beneath what was initially interpreted as sterile
basal deposit. This deep, lower horizon (Stratigraphic Unit 5) contained rich archaeological evidence of early occupation dated to the transition between the Late
Pleistocene and Early Holocene, c. 13,240–11,270 cal BP. Some finds appear to date from even earlier occupation, most likely c. 17,300–17,110 cal BP. Over 2,000 mainly
quartz and quartzite lithic artefacts were recovered, including a variety of tools—such as grinding stones and possibly hafted, adze-like forms—and substantial evidence for the early use and possible exchange of tachylite. This layer also yielded remarkably wellpreserved fragments of burnt marsupial bone, including kangaroo. Toolern Creek 17 provides important new data for understanding a relatively poorly documented
period in both Victoria and southeastern Australia. It also highlights the archaeological potential beneath apparently ‘culturally sterile’ strata on alluvial terraces.
Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, 2021
This paper presents a new tomb complex of the Late Bronze Age at Palaepaphos-Teratsoudhia in sout... more This paper presents a new tomb complex of the Late Bronze Age at Palaepaphos-Teratsoudhia in south-west Cyprus. Although looted, Tomb 288 yielded a representative repertoire of funerary gifts, including seals and scarabs, ranging chronologically from the very beginning of the Late Bronze Age to Late Cypriote IIC, roughly from 1650 to 1200 BC. Tomb 288 has characteristics which are typical of Late Bronze Age tomb architecture in Cyprus and well known in the Paphos region, as well as aspects which have not previously been observed in any necropolis of the period, such as the large central “pillars” which support the roof in Chambers A and B. The tomb’s finds comprise representative examples of the ceramic production of Palaepaphos for a period of some 400 years and illustrate the wealth of this region during the whole of the Late Bronze Age. The tomb is a significant addition, in particular, to our knowledge of the earliest phase of the city’s existence, a period which is not adequate...
Cypriote Antiquities in the S.O.F.I.A. Foundation Collection, 2021
Cylinder seals were small, spool-shaped stones, each engraved with a unique design. These objects... more Cylinder seals were small, spool-shaped stones, each engraved with a unique design. These objects first appeared in Mesopotamia around 3000 BC before spreading across the Near Eastern world (Collon 1989), arriving on Cyprus at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1700-1050 BC). Relatively few cylinder seals are known from Late Cypriote I (1700-1450 BC) archaeological contexts, but these objects were evidently much sought after later in the Bronze Age (Webb 2002 with references). Many cylinder seals are now known from tombs and settlement contexts dating from the 15th to the 12th centuries BC. These include many imports, but a local seal-making tradition drawing inspiration from Syro-Mitannian seals evidently took hold on the island in Late Cypriote II (1450-1200 BC) (Porada 1948). Scholars commonly divide Cypriote cylinder seals into three broad categories: Elaborate, Derivative and Common Styles (e.g. Porada 1948;
Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome (OpAthRom), 2021
This paper presents a new tomb complex of the Late Bronze Age at Palaepaphos-Teratsoudhia in sout... more This paper presents a new tomb complex of the Late Bronze Age at Palaepaphos-Teratsoudhia in south-west Cyprus. Although looted, Tomb 288 yielded a representative repertoire of funerary gifts, including seals and scarabs, ranging chronologically from the very beginning of the Late Bronze Age to Late Cypriote IIC, roughly from 1650 to 1200 BC. Tomb 288 has characteristics which are typical of Late Bronze Age tomb architecture in Cyprus and well known in the Paphos region, as well as aspects which have not previously been observed in any necropolis of the period, such as the large central “pillars” which support the roof in Chambers A and B. The tomb’s finds comprise representative examples of the ceramic production of Palaepaphos for a period of some 400 years and illustrate the wealth of this region during the whole of the Late Bronze Age. The tomb is a significant addition, in particular, to our knowledge of the earliest phase of the city’s existence, a period which is not adequately known since the focus of recent research has primarily been on the latest phase of the Late Bronze Age and the early part of the Iron Age.
The doctoral dissertation offers a reassessment of cylinder seals from the island of Cyprus, foc... more The doctoral dissertation offers a reassessment of cylinder seals from the island of Cyprus, focusing on those with known archaeological provenance. Cylinder seals were first introduced to Cyprus in the 17th century BCE and largely fell out of use by the end of the Late Bronze Age. Much of the present scholarly understanding of these objects is derived from art historical analysis conducted by Edith Porada between 1948 and 1993. The study builds upon her work, analysing the iconography, formal properties and archaeological contexts of almost the entire published collection of Cypriot cylinder seals.
Near Eastern Archaeology Foundation Congress 2013, 2013