Evidence for the consumption of deer in Cyprus dates back to the Neolithic Age.
Name - Origin
Ελάφι.
There are indications that it was used for consumption from the Neolithic period until the Late Bronze Age.
Greek name: platóni.
Species: Dama mesopotamica.
Olive oil is produced by processing olives. Its use is not limited only to cooking or food but can be used as fuel for lighting, as a cosmetic and as a sacred offering to deities (Hadjisavvas 1996a, 129). Hadjisavvas, who has studied in detail the methods of production and the uses of olive oil, regards olive oil to have been as important to Cypriot society and economy as copper (Hadjisavvas 1992a, 233). The three main stages in the olive oil production process are a) crushing the olive fruit, b) pressing the olive pulp, c) separating the oil from the other substances (Hadjisavvas).
Functional and symbolic role
Fallow deer was part of the Cypriot diet from as early as the Neolithic period. The earliest chronologically dated site at which bones and horns of fallow deer have been found is in Choirokoitia (7000-5200 BC). The bones and horns found at the various sites are often reworked as everyday tools (Croft 1985a, 294). During the Chalcolithic period, fallow deer and goat were already the main types of meat for consumption (Steel 2004, 286). From the Late Bronze Age onwards the consumption of fallow deer gradually declines. An illustrative example of the decline is the recorded rates at the Lemba-Lakki site during the 3rd millennium.
Aelian (2nd-3rd century AD) in his text 'On the characteristics of animals' mentions that in Curium, near the sanctuary of Apollo, there is a herd of deer, which are protected by the god himself, as hunters cannot approach them.
Additional information and bibliography
Evidence of the presence of fallow deer on the island exists until the 20th century (King 1953, 436).
Αιλιανός, Περί ζώων ιδιότητος 11.7 in: Scholfield, A.F. μτφ. (1958) Aelian - On the Characteristics of Animals, Loeb Classical Library v.2. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 362.
Croft, P. (1985a) ‘The bone and antler industry: summary and conclusions’, Peltenburg, J.E. (ed.) ‘Lemba Archaeological Project v.1’, Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology v.LXX:1, Goteborg: Paul Astroms Forlag, 294.
Croft, P. (1985b) ‘The mammalian faunal remains: summary and conclusions’, Peltenburg, J.E. (ed.) ‘Lemba Archaeological Project v.1’, Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology v.LXX:1, Goteborg: Paul Astroms Forlag, 295-296.
Croft, P. (1991) 'Man and Beast in Chalcolithic Cyprus', American School of Oriental Research, 63-79.
Ducos, P. (1964) ‘Le bois de Cervidé d’ Angastina’ in: Karageorghis, V. (1964) ‘A Late Cypriote tomb at Angastina’, Report of the Department of Antiquities, Nicosia: Department of Antiquities, 24-26.
Karageorghis, V. (2007) ‘Eating and Drinking in Cyprus, 13th- 6th Centuries B.C.’, Alram, S. και Nightingale, G. (ed.) Keimelion, Wien: Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 257-262.
King, J. (1953) ‘Mammal bones from Khirokitia and Erimi’, Dikaios, P. (ed.) Khirokitia, London: Oxford University Press, 431-437.
Michaelides, D. (1998) 'The Food in Ancient Cyprus' in: Lysaght, P. Food and the Traveller-Migration, Immigration, Tourism and Ethnic group. Nicosia: Intercollege Press, 24.
Steel, L. (2004) 'A Goodly Feast...A Cup of Mellow Wine: Feasting in Bronze Age Cyprus', Hesperia, 73(2), 281-300
Hadjioannou, K. (1975) Η Αρχαία Κύπρος εις τας Ελληνικάς Πηγάς, τ.B'. Nicosia: Publications of the Holy Archbishopric of Cyprus, 256-257.
Natassa Charalambous