Daisy Knox | The University of Manchester (original) (raw)

Papers by Daisy Knox

Research paper thumbnail of Making Sense of Figurines in Bronze Age Cyprus: A Comprehensive Analysis of Cypriot Ceramic Figurative Material from EC I - LC IIIA (c.2300BC - c.1100BC)

Prehistoric figurines have long proven evocative objects, and those of Bronze Age Cyprus have cap... more Prehistoric figurines have long proven evocative objects, and those of Bronze Age Cyprus have captivated researchers for more than a century. Much of this attention, however, has focussed on appraising the aesthetic characteristics, particularly of human figurines and using them to ascribe names to Bronze Age Cypriot deities. Most studies ignore animal figurines and less visually appealing, fragmentary or schematic examples; socially-situated analyses have also been particularly rare. However, the potential of these enigmatic objects to illuminate the society which made and used them has not gone unnoticed by archaeologists and calls have been made for a comprehensive, contextual investigation. This thesis undertook to provide such a study, aiming not only to interpret the function and significance of the figurines themselves but to consider the implications of these interpretations for the nature of the Bronze Age Cypriot society.The project has collated a detailed database of all ...

Research paper thumbnail of Teacher Trainees Telling Tales

Journal of Classics Teaching

Trainees were encouraged to tell a mythological story to the class, lasting about ten minutes. Th... more Trainees were encouraged to tell a mythological story to the class, lasting about ten minutes. They could use props and other visual aids if they wished, but the emphasis was for them to practise speaking before the class, using prompt cards if necessary, and employing all the techniques of a professional oral ‘poet’ – such as gesture, eye contact, tone of voice and so on. There is obviously considerable general interest among younger students about mythology. Locally, interest is captured by the Cambridge School Classics project which puts on an annual Ovid Mythology competition and the website War with Troy is used by several of the schools where trainees are placed. Its use as a stimulus for learning has been well-documented by its author and past PGCE subject lecturer Bob Lister (2005, 2007) and by Walker (2018), a former teacher trainee from the faculty. Some of the Latin textbooks such as Minimus (Bell, 1999) and Suburani (Hands-Up Education, 2020) contain myth episodes and ar...

Research paper thumbnail of Mediterranean—Cyprus

Oxford Handbooks Online

Prehistoric Cyprus was home to a surprisingly rich and varied corpus of three-dimensional figurat... more Prehistoric Cyprus was home to a surprisingly rich and varied corpus of three-dimensional figurative imagery, including anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines and figurative vessels, as well as models of inanimate objects in stone, clay, and copper. Beginning with the rare fragments discovered in Pre-Pottery Neolithic A contexts, Cyprus’ figurine record developed over several millennia into the diverse, island-wide, representative phenomena of the Bronze Age. This chapter explores the most pervasive and ongoing debates concerning the function and significance of these figurines—their use in ritual activities, their relevance to the gender discourse, and their use in the expression of identities. This will be conducted in light of recent theoretical developments in archaeology and, as ever on Cyprus, in the shadow of Aphrodite.

Research paper thumbnail of Mediterranean—Cyprus

Oxford Handbooks Online

Prehistoric Cyprus was home to a surprisingly rich and varied corpus of three-dimensional figurat... more Prehistoric Cyprus was home to a surprisingly rich and varied corpus of three-dimensional figurative imagery, including anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines and figurative vessels, as well as models of inanimate objects in stone, clay, and copper. Beginning with the rare fragments discovered in Pre-Pottery Neolithic A contexts, Cyprus’ figurine record developed over several millennia into the diverse, island-wide, representative phenomena of the Bronze Age. This chapter explores the most pervasive and ongoing debates concerning the function and significance of these figurines—their use in ritual activities, their relevance to the gender discourse, and their use in the expression of identities. This will be conducted in light of recent theoretical developments in archaeology and, as ever on Cyprus, in the shadow of Aphrodite.

Research paper thumbnail of "Figurines and figurative vessels at Early Cypriot Bellapais Vounous" in A.B. Knapp, J.M. Webb and A. McCarthy (eds) 2013: J.R.B. Stewart: An Archaeological Legacy (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology Volume 139), Uppsala: Åströms Förlag

When JRB Stewart and his team excavated at the Early Cypriot necropolis at Bellapais-Vounous they... more When JRB Stewart and his team excavated at the Early Cypriot necropolis at Bellapais-Vounous they uncovered a wealth of material which shaped our understanding of this formative stage of the island’s Bronze Age. Amongst this material was a curious collection of figurative objects, including elaborate vessels decorated with animal and object protomes and life-size clay models of inanimate objects. These generally well-preserved and visually attractive objects have since become emblematic of Early Cypriot art and religion and, since many forms are still known exclusively from this influential context, of the site of Vounous itself. This paper draws on a comprehensive programme of iconographical and contextual analyses to offer a new interpretation of this fascinating yet enigmatic corpus. Calling on a diverse range of evidence, including spatial analysis within the cemetery, contemporary faunal data and analysis of Early Cypriot figurative material from elsewhere on the island, this paper will present a re-evaluation of the function and significance of Vounous’ figurative material. The paper will conclude by presenting the implications of these new interpretations for our understanding of the changing nature of burial ritual at Vounous and the manifestation of individual and group identities within the cemetery.

Research paper thumbnail of "Script in Context: The Cypro-Minoan Script and Its Place in Late Bronze Age Cypriot Society" in Papantoniou, G (ed.) 2008: POCA 2005, Postgraduates in Cypriot Archaeology Conference

… of the fifth annual Meeting of Young …, Jan 1, 2008

Talks by Daisy Knox

Research paper thumbnail of Figurines and Figurtive Vessels at Early Cypriot Bellapais Vounous

Research paper thumbnail of Calling on Clay to Make Sense of Metal: Interpreting Three Late Cypriot Bronzes

Research paper thumbnail of Imagery and Society in Early-Middle Bronze Age Cyprus

Research paper thumbnail of Diachronic Changes in the Figurines of Bronze Age Cyprus

Research paper thumbnail of Figurines and Complex Identities on Bronze Age Cyprus

Research paper thumbnail of Figurines as Art vs Figurines in Context: The Case of Bronze Age Cyprus

Research paper thumbnail of Figurines and Identity in Bronze Age Cyprus: Step By Step to Interpretation

Research paper thumbnail of Making Sense of Plank Figurines in Early-Middle Bronze Age Cyprus

Research paper thumbnail of Making Sense of Figurines in Bronze Age Cyprus: A Late Cypriot Anthropomorphic Case Study

Research paper thumbnail of Figurative Representation in Cyprus at the Middle to Late Bronze Age Transition

Research paper thumbnail of Making Sense of Figurines in Bronze Age Cyprus: A Comprehensive Analysis of Cypriot Ceramic Figurative Material from EC I - LC IIIA (c.2300BC - c.1100BC)

Prehistoric figurines have long proven evocative objects, and those of Bronze Age Cyprus have cap... more Prehistoric figurines have long proven evocative objects, and those of Bronze Age Cyprus have captivated researchers for more than a century. Much of this attention, however, has focussed on appraising the aesthetic characteristics, particularly of human figurines and using them to ascribe names to Bronze Age Cypriot deities. Most studies ignore animal figurines and less visually appealing, fragmentary or schematic examples; socially-situated analyses have also been particularly rare. However, the potential of these enigmatic objects to illuminate the society which made and used them has not gone unnoticed by archaeologists and calls have been made for a comprehensive, contextual investigation. This thesis undertook to provide such a study, aiming not only to interpret the function and significance of the figurines themselves but to consider the implications of these interpretations for the nature of the Bronze Age Cypriot society.The project has collated a detailed database of all ...

Research paper thumbnail of Teacher Trainees Telling Tales

Journal of Classics Teaching

Trainees were encouraged to tell a mythological story to the class, lasting about ten minutes. Th... more Trainees were encouraged to tell a mythological story to the class, lasting about ten minutes. They could use props and other visual aids if they wished, but the emphasis was for them to practise speaking before the class, using prompt cards if necessary, and employing all the techniques of a professional oral ‘poet’ – such as gesture, eye contact, tone of voice and so on. There is obviously considerable general interest among younger students about mythology. Locally, interest is captured by the Cambridge School Classics project which puts on an annual Ovid Mythology competition and the website War with Troy is used by several of the schools where trainees are placed. Its use as a stimulus for learning has been well-documented by its author and past PGCE subject lecturer Bob Lister (2005, 2007) and by Walker (2018), a former teacher trainee from the faculty. Some of the Latin textbooks such as Minimus (Bell, 1999) and Suburani (Hands-Up Education, 2020) contain myth episodes and ar...

Research paper thumbnail of Mediterranean—Cyprus

Oxford Handbooks Online

Prehistoric Cyprus was home to a surprisingly rich and varied corpus of three-dimensional figurat... more Prehistoric Cyprus was home to a surprisingly rich and varied corpus of three-dimensional figurative imagery, including anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines and figurative vessels, as well as models of inanimate objects in stone, clay, and copper. Beginning with the rare fragments discovered in Pre-Pottery Neolithic A contexts, Cyprus’ figurine record developed over several millennia into the diverse, island-wide, representative phenomena of the Bronze Age. This chapter explores the most pervasive and ongoing debates concerning the function and significance of these figurines—their use in ritual activities, their relevance to the gender discourse, and their use in the expression of identities. This will be conducted in light of recent theoretical developments in archaeology and, as ever on Cyprus, in the shadow of Aphrodite.

Research paper thumbnail of Mediterranean—Cyprus

Oxford Handbooks Online

Prehistoric Cyprus was home to a surprisingly rich and varied corpus of three-dimensional figurat... more Prehistoric Cyprus was home to a surprisingly rich and varied corpus of three-dimensional figurative imagery, including anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines and figurative vessels, as well as models of inanimate objects in stone, clay, and copper. Beginning with the rare fragments discovered in Pre-Pottery Neolithic A contexts, Cyprus’ figurine record developed over several millennia into the diverse, island-wide, representative phenomena of the Bronze Age. This chapter explores the most pervasive and ongoing debates concerning the function and significance of these figurines—their use in ritual activities, their relevance to the gender discourse, and their use in the expression of identities. This will be conducted in light of recent theoretical developments in archaeology and, as ever on Cyprus, in the shadow of Aphrodite.

Research paper thumbnail of "Figurines and figurative vessels at Early Cypriot Bellapais Vounous" in A.B. Knapp, J.M. Webb and A. McCarthy (eds) 2013: J.R.B. Stewart: An Archaeological Legacy (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology Volume 139), Uppsala: Åströms Förlag

When JRB Stewart and his team excavated at the Early Cypriot necropolis at Bellapais-Vounous they... more When JRB Stewart and his team excavated at the Early Cypriot necropolis at Bellapais-Vounous they uncovered a wealth of material which shaped our understanding of this formative stage of the island’s Bronze Age. Amongst this material was a curious collection of figurative objects, including elaborate vessels decorated with animal and object protomes and life-size clay models of inanimate objects. These generally well-preserved and visually attractive objects have since become emblematic of Early Cypriot art and religion and, since many forms are still known exclusively from this influential context, of the site of Vounous itself. This paper draws on a comprehensive programme of iconographical and contextual analyses to offer a new interpretation of this fascinating yet enigmatic corpus. Calling on a diverse range of evidence, including spatial analysis within the cemetery, contemporary faunal data and analysis of Early Cypriot figurative material from elsewhere on the island, this paper will present a re-evaluation of the function and significance of Vounous’ figurative material. The paper will conclude by presenting the implications of these new interpretations for our understanding of the changing nature of burial ritual at Vounous and the manifestation of individual and group identities within the cemetery.

Research paper thumbnail of "Script in Context: The Cypro-Minoan Script and Its Place in Late Bronze Age Cypriot Society" in Papantoniou, G (ed.) 2008: POCA 2005, Postgraduates in Cypriot Archaeology Conference

… of the fifth annual Meeting of Young …, Jan 1, 2008