ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses part of the repertoire of so-called Mycenaean pictorial pottery (and other related material) found in Cyprus through the perspective in which animals were perceived, and how the depiction of animals represents changes in the symbolic world of the Late Bronze Age. Noticeable is a growing interest in depicting birds, and later Philistine pottery follows that development. Of particular interest are scenes involving bulls and birds: for example, kraters from Enkomi offer unique examples of scenes with avians interacting with bovines. In Cypriot coastline marshes, bird and human habitats intersected, and symbolic meanings attributed to some animals changed profoundly alongside the social changes among the people on the move.
