Bronze Age: How invaders from the north changed people’s lives

The question of why the Bronze Age states in the eastern Mediterranean came together in the 12th century BC provokes numerous answers. Some say that dwindling resources were the reason, which led to famines and uprisings. Others see invaders from the Balkans at work, who are identified with the “Sea Peoples” of Egyptian texts. Natural disasters such as earthquakes and climate change are also cited as triggers for the decline.

A project by the Austrian Archaeological Institute also shows that foreign peoples from the north were significantly involved. An interdisciplinary team dug in the ruins of the port city of Hala Sultan Tekke on Cyprus, not far from Larnaka, for tableware that was used for cooking and eating. The analyses show how “cultural, socio-economic or even climatic changes influenced people’s daily lives,” writes project leader Teresa Bürge in an article for the magazine “Antike Welt.”

When the great powers of the late Bronze Age – Egypt, the Hittites in Asia Minor, Mittani in Syria and northern Iraq, and Mycenae in Greece and Crete – formed a fairly stable system, Hala Sultan Tekke was one of the most important trading centers in the Mediterranean. Precious metals, grain, oil, wine, pottery, and local copper were traded here. But around 1200 BC, the boom and prosperity came to an abrupt end, as layers of destruction in the ruins show. Around 50 years later, the place was finally abandoned.

In the years before, no more representative tableware from the Mycenaean region had reached Cyprus, so local craftsmen tried to fill the gap with simple copies. Other kitchen utensils also changed: the size and shape of the cooking pots suddenly differed significantly from their predecessors. This makes them important indicators of the immigration of new groups, explains Teresa Bürge. Unlike tableware, cooking utensils are not a commodity, but are part of the bundle of traditions that people bring with them from their homeland.

While a spherical shape with a round base and a capacity of around eight litres was still typical for the kitchens in Hala Sultan Tekke in the 13th century BC, cooking pots with a maximum capacity of four litres and a flat base were now in use. This dish was also no longer handmade, but was made on a potter’s wheel. The flat bases can be explained by the use on stoves, while the spherical shape refers to cooking in fire pits.

In both cases, however, the clay was obtained from the southern foothills of the central Troodos Mountains, “both before and after 1200 BC,” writes Teresa Bürge: “However, from 1200 BC onwards, we can recognise clear influences from the Aegean and, to a lesser extent, the Levant in the forms… This can certainly be explained by a strong presence of people with an Aegean background, which is also reflected in other aspects of the material culture.”

This does not necessarily mean that conquerors spread across southeastern Cyprus from 1200 BC. But at least people in Hala Sultan Tekke maintained contact with them. This is also indicated by changes in the diet. By analyzing residues in 35 vessels, the scientists were able to show that fish and seafood were popular foods. Traces of Nile perch and African predatory catfish can be explained by imports from Egypt.

The plant-based diet was dominated by legumes, especially lentils. The shift from the barley of the 13th century to ancient wheat varieties such as einkorn and emmer could be related to climate change, which from 1200 BC onwards brought more drought to the Levant.

Meat consumption provides interesting conclusions. While fallow deer and other game tended to end up on the table of the elite, horses and donkeys were probably eaten by broad sections of the population after their hard-working lives. Sheep, goats and cattle were also very popular.

The fact that pigs hardly play a role in the findings, however, sheds light on the political situation in this part of Cyprus. Here, established locals met newcomers. The majority of them, however, probably moved on with the “Sea Peoples”. This is supported by the fact that some of these wanderers settled in Palestine after a defeat by Pharaoh Ramses III, where they appear as “Philistines” in the Old Testament. New excavations in their settlement area show that pigs make up up to 70 percent of the animal remains there.

Already in his doctorate, Berthold Seewald with bridges between the ancient world and the modern era. As a history editor at WELT, he has been following archaeology for decades.