4,000-year-old Cypriot bowl repatriated from Canada

An ancient Cypriot bowl has been repatriated from Canada after it was bought in an online auction. The illegally exported artifact was spotted on the internet by Cyprus Department of Antiquities Officers in May of last year. After a year of coordinated investigation and outreach by Cypriot and Canadian authorities and Interpol, the holder of the object voluntarily returned it to Cyprus.

The repatriated artifact is a polished blackware bowl with incised geometric decoration, dating to the Early Cypriot III/ Middle Cypriot I period, between ca. 2100 and 1750 B.C.

This type of miniature black polished bowl characterized by the simple geometric design were made from dark clay. The lines of the geometric patterns were incused on the surface of the shaped clay with one pass of a sharp tool and a white lime paint was added to the incised lines in a second pass. The decorated vessel was then fired to create a black burnished appearance.

Bowls like this are usually found in tombs and sanctuaries, so scholars believe they held symbolic meaning. They were left in graves as funerary offerings to aid the deceased in the afterlife, or as votive offerings to deities in sanctuaries.

The recovered bowl will now be conserved by state archaeologists for future display.

* This article was originally published here