Village Potters of the Troodos Mountains: Ceramic Production in Agios Demetrios, Cyprus 1891-2002

＂On the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, four generations of female potters shaped pottery from local clays between 1891 to 2002. In the remote Troodos Mountain village of Agios Demetrios, over the course of a century, 46 people coil-built thousands of jars, jugs, cookware, beehives, ovens, and decorative pots by hand annually. My ethnoarchaeological reseach recorded the production, disposition, use, and reuse of the market-oriented wares. Quantitative data on pot sizes, production rates, firing times, and rate of loss assess the industry and have implications for archaeologists worldwide who are concerned with craft specialization and standardization, learning frameworks, markings on pots, and identifying production locations. Nearly identical pots made in the lowland village of Kornos display subtle differences and nuances. Archaeologists can develop strategies to recognize contemporaneous ancient wares originating at different production centers. The traditional pots and potters serve as a template for the organization of the ancient pottery industry＂--