Abstract

A Danish police officer, who volunteered for the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, spent his spare time documenting traditional technologies, especially those related to handmade pottery, farming and food. Knud Jensen recorded over 60 pitharia, immense jars for fermenting wine, produced for centuries until 1972. He speculated that the names incised on jar shoulders, prior to firing, held information about the history of Cyprus. Detective Jensen managed to trace century-old jars back to the craftspeople who made them and to their descendants living in Lazania and other Troodos foothill villages. His findings, combined with more recent ethnoarchaeological research by the author, provide practical templates to: reconstruct the ancient ceramics industry; assess the markings on archaeological pottery; evaluate artefact reuse; identify sources of variation in the work of craft specialists past and present; acknowledge itinerant male and female potters; and explain the multiplicity of traditional and ancient regional terms for essential household items.