Professor David Frankel presents an overview of research carried out at five village sites in Cyprus; Marki, Psematismenos, Karmi, Ambelikou, and Deneia. He begins by quoting Rudyard Kipling; ‘There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, And every single one of them is right.’ This introduces the theme of the presentation; how archaeologists construct stories and aspects of past societies.

About the speaker: Professor David Frankel studied archaeology at the University of Sydney and Gothenburg University, where he specialised in Cypriot prehistory. After some years in the Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities, The British Museum, he returned to Australia in 1978 to take up a lectureship at La Trobe University, retiring in 2013 to become Emeritus Professor. From 1996 to 1998 served on the Humanities Panel of the Australian Research Council and was twice on the ERA Committee assessing research quality in the Humanities. In 2015 he was awarded the Rhys Jones Medal for outstanding contributions to Australian Archaeology by the Australian Archaeological Association. His research interests include Australian Aboriginal archaeology with particular reference to south-eastern Australia and the archaeology of the Bronze Age in Cyprus where he has carried out excavations at Marki Alonia, Deneia and Politiko Kokkinorotsos. His most recent book is between the Murray and the Sea: Aboriginal Archaeology in South-eastern Australia. 

Part of the La Trobe University Archaeology Seminar series.

When: available throughout National Archaeology Week

Where: right here

A Tale of Five Villages: Constructing Bronze Age Cyprus