Women Potters Of Cyprus. Gloria London

Traditional female potters working on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, who coil build cooking pots, jars, jugs, ovens, and other clay containers on slow moving turntables, use a technique reminiscent of ancient pottery. The women are the last of their generation. The similarities between traditional and ancient shapes, incised decorations, materials, and woodburning kilns, provide an ideal ethnoarchaeological study of craft specialists. Quantitative data measure the rate of loss, numbers of pots fired together, and precise decoration, along with attributes designed to differentiate between village and individual styles in Kornos and three mountain villages. After a 7month field study in 1986, a year long followup in 19992000 examines what has changed or remained the same. As the number of traditional potters decreases annually, soon it will be impossible to record their work. Visit the potters to experience a rapidly disappearing traditional Cypriot craft set to traditional music performed on tradition