Contextualizing Iron Age Cypriot State Formation in the Eastern Mediterranean

Summary

During the Archaic period (750-480 BC) the island of Cyprus underwent a dramatic transformation as new city-kingdoms rose to dominate the political landscape of the island. This shift resulted in increased competition for resources, establishment of political boundaries, and emergence of a pronounced social hierarchy within the new polities. The present study aims to investigate the development of these new polities in a broader geographic context, and to explore the ways in which cultural exchange within the region shaped the growth and consolidation of the Cypriot city-kingdoms. The creation of rural burial and ritual sites to delineate territory and resources in Cyprus are compared to similar developments in the restructuring of the Eastern Mediterranean in the aftermath of the Bronze Age. Furthermore, the reflections of social stratification on the sacred and mortuary landscapes are investigated and compared to expose the cultural contact between different levels of society during this time. The ultimate goal of the study is to track the social development on the island, and how an emergent elite affirmed their status both at home and abroad.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage