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Scholar · Draughtsman / artist

Liliane Courtois

fl. 1960–1999 · France

Ceramic petrologist whose 1971 thesis described Late Bronze Age Cypriot pottery by physical and chemical analysis; she also wrote on Cypriot fabrics, on Amathus and on the pottery of Ras Shamra.

Biography

R. E. Jones called Liliane Courtois's work on Cypriot pottery fabrics "pioneering". Her thesis at Clermont-Ferrand in 1971 (182 pages) was "Description physico-chimique de la céramique ancienne: la céramique de Chypre au Bronze récent"2,11. In 1981 she was described as of the Center for Archaeological Research in Paris9.

A 1970 study of Bichrome ware concluded that the coarser fabrics were Cypriot and the finer ones, from Milia, were imports; Artzy later explained her differing results by advances in provenance analysis7. Jones's review of scientific studies of Greek and Cypriot pottery calls her work on Cypriot fabrics, among them Base Ring, Red Polished, White Painted and White Slip, "valuable, pioneering work in the petrological analysis of Cypriot fabrics"1. It also records her work at Amathus with B. Velde, including a paper of 1978 on an amphora with yellow garnet from Latium found at Amathus4.

At Ras Shamra she described the pottery of Late Bronze Age Tomb 4253, a reviewer calling her "Mlle. Liliane Courtois", including Cypriot Base Ring and White Slip milk bowls6. She contributed to Jacques-Claude Courtois's 1978 corpus of the pottery, Ugaritica VII2. In 1985-86 her electron-microscope observations on Khirbet Kerak ware and Late Cypriot ware appeared in a volume of the Institut catholique de Paris10. Her dates of birth and death are not recorded.

Life and work

  1. 1969
    Cited (Courtois 1969, p. 135) for Mycenaean pottery at Ugarit

    Ras ShamraMycenaean Greece (bibliography note). 156, p. 156

  2. 1970
    Her provenance study (Courtois 1970) concluded that the coarser Bichrome fabrics were Cypriot and the finer wares, notably from Milia, imports; Artzy later explained the difference from her own results by advances in analysis in the early 1970s

    Lindy Crewe (2007). Early Enkomi: Regionalism, Trade and Society at the Beginning of the Late Bronze Age on Cyprus. Oxford, Archaeopress, p. 34

  3. 1971
  4. 1972
    Described the pottery of Late Bronze Age Tomb 4253 at Ras Shamra (Cypriot base-ring and white slip milk bowls, a Mycenaean cup and stirrup jar); the reviewer calls her 'Mlle. Liliane Courtois'

    Ras Shamra(1972). Review of the Ras Shamra volume (Tomb 4253 pottery by Mlle Liliane Courtois). Levant 4

  5. 1978
    With B. Velde, 'Une amphore a grenat jaune du Latium a Amathonte', BCH 102, 977-981

    AmathusR. E. Jones (1986). Greek and Cypriot Pottery: A Review of Scientific Studies. Athens, British School at Athens, p. 474

  6. 1978
    Contributed to J.-C. Courtois, Corpus céramique de Ras Shamra-Ugarit, Niveau historique, deuxième partie (Ugaritica VII, pp. 191-370)

    Ras ShamraA. Bernard Knapp (ed.). Cypriot Ceramics: Reading the Prehistoric Record. 153, 189, p. 189

  7. 1980–1981
    With Velde, notes in the Amathus mission reports for 1979 and 1980 (BCH 104, 818-22; BCH 105, 1032-4)

    AmathusR. E. Jones (1986). Greek and Cypriot Pottery: A Review of Scientific Studies. Athens, British School at Athens, p. 474

  8. 1983
    Velde and Courtois (1983) published the provenance study of a Roman amphora type with 'black sand' fabric, including an example from Amathus (preliminary results in Courtois and Velde 1978)

    AmathusR. E. Jones (1986). Greek and Cypriot Pottery: A Review of Scientific Studies. Athens, British School at Athens, p. 386

  9. 1985
    Electron-microscope observations by L. C. Courtois on Near Eastern pottery, including Khirbet Kerak ware and Late Cypriot, in Etudes céramiques en archéologie (Institut géologique Albert de Lapparent, Documents et travaux 9, Paris 1985)

    (1986). Review of Etudes céramiques en archéologie (IGAL, Documents et travaux 9, 1985). Revue de l'Institut catholique de Paris

  10. Undated
    Named in the BCH Chronique des fouilles à Chypre: Carried out preliminary analyses at Sanida showing that minerals for White Slip, water and fuel wood are available locally.

    Dimos Christou, «Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1991», Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 116 (1992), pp. 793-831, pp. 813-816

  11. Undated
    departs Cyprus with Jacques Lagarce; drew plans and sections of the Sanctuary with the writer; pursues stratigraphic excavation of superimposed hearths in the south hall of the sanctuary in Claude Schaeffer's papers (Collège de France), 5 d

    Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 136-2, «[Carnet de fouilles Enkomi 1963 Courtois]», 1963of 380, Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 134-2a, «[Carnet de Fouilles Enkomi 1965 XVIIe campagne]», 1965of 214, Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 138-3, «[Mission française Enkomi -Alasia, Campagne 1966, carnet de notes et d'observations, J. Lagarce]», 1966of 376, Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 172, «["Les fouilles d'Enkomi 1966" rapport envoyé sur demande à M. Karageorghis, jointe, une photographie]», 22 January 1967of 8, Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 133-2, «[Carnets de Courtois, Enkomi 1961, 1962, 1963]», 1961–1963of 510

Excavations

2 projects

Connections

1 person

Recording and study

1 record
Studied1

  • Liliane Courtois carried out mineral analyses at Sanida, finding materials for White Slip locally available.

    mineral samples from SanidaChristou 1992, p. 816

Discussed in documents

Sources

  1. 1.R. E. Jones (1986). Greek and Cypriot Pottery: A Review of Scientific Studies. Athens, British School at Athens.
  2. 2.A. Bernard Knapp (ed.). Cypriot Ceramics: Reading the Prehistoric Record. 153, 189.
  3. 3.Liliane Courtois (1971). Description physico-chimique de la ceramique ancienne: la ceramique de Chypre au Bronze Recent. 182 p..
  4. 4.L. Courtois and B. Velde (1978). “Une amphore à grenat jaune du Latium à Amathonte”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 102, 977-981.
  5. 5.Hans-Günter Buchholz (1999). Ugarit, Zypern und Ägäis. 685.
  6. 6. (1972). “Review of the Ras Shamra volume (Tomb 4253 pottery by Mlle Liliane Courtois)”. Levant 4.
  7. 7.Lindy Crewe (2007). Early Enkomi: Regionalism, Trade and Society at the Beginning of the Late Bronze Age on Cyprus. Oxford, Archaeopress.
  8. 8.Mycenaean Greece (bibliography note). 156.
  9. 9.The pyramids: an enigma solved. 104.
  10. 10. (1986). “Review of Etudes céramiques en archéologie (IGAL, Documents et travaux 9, 1985)”. Revue de l'Institut catholique de Paris.
  11. 11.Fabien Convertini (2008). “Étude pétrographique du site du Chemin Saint-Jean à Authon-Ébéon”. Recherches archéologiques en Saintonge et Aunis. Société d'archéologie et d'histoire de la Charente-Maritime.
  12. 12.Dimos Christou (1992). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1991”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 116, 793-831. Online
  13. 13.Dimos Christou, «Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1991», Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 116 (1992).
  14. 14.Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 136-2, «[Carnet de fouilles Enkomi 1963 Courtois]», 1963of 380, Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 134-2a, «[Carnet de Fouilles Enkomi 1965 XVIIe campagne]», 1965of 214, Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 138-3, «[Mission française Enkomi -Alasia, Campagne 1966, carnet de notes et d'observations, J. Lagarce]», 1966of 376, Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 172, «["Les fouilles d'Enkomi 1966" rapport envoyé sur demande à M. Karageorghis, jointe, une photographie]», 22 January 1967of 8, Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 133-2, «[Carnets de Courtois, Enkomi 1961, 1962, 1963]», 1961–1963of 510. Online
  15. 15.A. Bernard Knapp (ed.), Cypriot Ceramics: Reading the Prehistoric Record.

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