Cypriote Museum at Brock

The Department of Classics possesses a small collection of Cypriote antiquities. Primarily intended as a teaching tool, the collection was begun in 1970 by Arthur Kahn, then chair of the Department of Classics. It now consists of 173 objects acquired through purchase (including objects acquired from Stanford University, originally belonging to the Cesnola Collection) and donation (mainly pieces sent from the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia by Dr. Vassos Karageorghis, then Director of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus).

While modest in size, the Cypriote Museum at Brock contains fine examples from the Neolithic through Mediaeval periods.  The Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods are represented by stone bowls, pestles, grinders, and an axe. Pieces dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Ages include bronze daggers, terracotta spindle whorls, and red polished ware. The Late Bronze Age is primarily represented by Base Ring and White Slip, as well as Bichrome and Red Lustrous wares. Most of the material belongs to the Late Geometric and Archaic periods, especially White Painted and Black-on-Red ceramics. There are also examples of Hellenistic and Roman vessels, mainly Plain White or Matt Painted wares, in addition to a good number of lamps. The latest artifacts comprise several sgrafitto and glazed bowls of Mediaeval date.

The Brock Collection also includes limestone sculpture (chiefly of the Archaic and Classical periods) and terracotta figurines (Archaic to Roman), including a student and faculty favourite -- a terracotta hedgehog rattle from the Hellenistic period. There are also several Roman glass vessels, mostly unguentaria.  These objects are published in L.F. Robertson, The Brock University Collection of Cypriote Antiquities, Corpus of Cypriote Antiquities 11, Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 20.11 (Gothenburg 1986).

For further information on the collection, please contact Angus Smith (rsmith@brocku.ca) or Elizabeth Greene (egreene@brocku.ca).

Links to other museums with notable Cypriote collections include: