Copper Production and Divine Protection.

This study considers arguments for the relationship between copper production and divine protection as well as questions of local vs. centralized authority over copper production. It is suggested that newly-emergent elites on the island manipulated and secured their domination over copper production and distribution by adopting such culturally significant symbols as the "Ingot God" or the miniature "votive" ingots. Religious ideology should thus be regarded as an element internal to the economy, and to the social relations of production. The study considers in detail the chronological problems encountered in linking all archaeological data presented to a coherent socio-historical interpretation. The attempt is made to place the discussion into the context of the Late Bronze Age collapse in the eastern Mediterranean. By A. Bernard Knapp. 164 pages. ISBN: 978-91-86098-44-5.