Late Bronze Age Cyprus: A Reassessment of Settlement Structure and Society

The second half of the second millennium BCE was a period of economic and sociopolitical transformation on the island of Cyprus, largely characterized by unprecedented evidence for urban lifeways. Monumental architecture, large-scale storage of agricultural products, industrial-scale copper production, the first writing system (the non-deciphered Cypro-Minoan script), and more visible integration in the maritime trade networks of the eastern Mediterranean are key topics in scholarly discourses. The incipient and final stages of the Late Cypriot phenomenon are among the most extensively debated in Cypriot archaeology, as is the sociopolitical structure of the island during this period.Nevertheless, several knowledge gaps impact our understanding of the Cypriot Late Bronze Age. Firstly, the materiality of the chronological period directly prior to the island’s urbanization (Middle Cypriot III–Late Cypriot I) is limited to small-scale exposures often stratigraphically below extensively examined Late Cypriot II urban infrastructure. In some cases, aspects of this urban infrastructure have been used anachronistically to describe the entirety of the Late Bronze Age. Moreover, the name “Alashiya,” largely identified with the island of Cyprus, appears in eighteenth-century BCE Near Eastern texts, suggesting trade with the eastern Mediterranean before the Late Bronze Age. References to a “king” of Alashiya appear a couple of centuries later, most notably in the Amarna letters, but archaeological evidence for this figure (such as a royal dwelling or an artistic representation) has yet to be established on the island of Cyprus. Thus, the politico-economic meaning of the term king remains a point of debate.Equally intriguing is a large-scale abandonment and destruction of sites at the end of the Late Bronze Age, from the Late Cypriot IIC onward—a topic largely discussed through the lens of the Late Bronze Age “crisis” narrative. In Cyprus, this crisis demonstrates regional diversity, with some sites such as Kition and Palaepaphos flourishing and expanding in subsequent periods.It is generally agreed that in the Late Bronze Age newly formed coastal settlements developed substantial politico-economic power through maritime connectivity. This has formed the basis of settlement pattern models developed from the 1960s onward that divide the Late Cypriot politico-economic landscape into coastal and non-coastal entities, each serving a role relevant to a copper- and trade-driven economy. Recent investigations of inland and rural sites demonstrate more nuanced economic relations within these landscapes (Steel 2016; Andreou 2019). These relations would benefit from more systematic examination. The same applies to archaeological data collection strategies and biases as well as to the colonial underpinnings of Cypriot archaeology, both of which played a formative role in the establishment of early material typologies and shaped pervasive understandings of the island’s ancient landscape.Given the above, it is not surprising that the Late Bronze Age is among the most intensively studied periods in Cypriot archaeology, and several archaeological projects focus on these early cities. Notably, however, the latest attempt to synthesize the available information is over a decade old (Knapp 2013).With his substantial literary corpus on the archaeology of Cyprus, including seminal books such as his 2013 The Archaeology of Cyprus: From Earliest Prehistory through the Bronze Age, A. B. Knapp is one of the most important thinkers and prolific writers in Cypriot archaeology. The book under review is, according to Knapp, his last book project. For those who know him, this is unlikely to be the case.In this book, Knapp updates his 2013 synthesis, revisiting newly exposed or analyzed evidence, largely from Palaepaphos, Maroni, Aredhiou, Pyla, Alassa, Hala Sultan Tekke, Ayios Sozomenos, and Kalavasos. He also enhances the theoretical record through the consideration of studies focusing on agrarian production, political economy, mortuary practices, ceramic production, and maritime connectivity. A typical Knapp publication, it is characterized by a clear structure, excellent illustrations, and a thorough bibliography. As always, the quality of the publication is of the highest standard, reflecting the professionalism and ethos of Astrom Editions and its editors-in-chief.The book’s structure follows a chronological order, starting from the Middle Bronze Age and proceeding to the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age. It is notable that, although Knapp (2013: 27, table 2) has proposed a new chronological chart of Cypriot archaeology that challenges the tripartite (Early-Middle-Late) division of the Cypriot Bronze Age and favors a Prehistoric/Protohistoric division based on sociopolitical change, the division of the book follows the more traditional chronologies. One synthetic chapter focuses on mercantile, production, and ceremonial practices in the Late Bronze Age, reflecting Knapp’s recent interests in merchant identities (Knapp and Meyer 2023).After a short introduction (Ch. 1), the book presents the Middle Bronze Age (2100/2050–1750/1700 BCE) as the period that sets the scene for the Late Bronze Age (Ch. 2). In this chapter (1), Knapp enhances previous knowledge with a discussion of more recent publications, including those from the sites of Erimi Laoni tou Porakkou, Alambra Mouttes, Politiko Troullia, Kissonerga Skalia, and Pyrgos Mavrorachi. Through this reassessment he suggests a higher degree of socioeconomic complexity than previously thought, higher diversity in economic strategies, and a more definitive departure from pervasive views of the pre-Late Bronze Age society as egalitarian. The excavation of settlements has also improved past imbalances toward mortuary archaeology and adds nuance to existing and known evidence for socioeconomic complexity, such as increasingly elaborate burials and textual references suggesting the exportation of copper to the Middle East.Chapter 3 focuses on the Late Bronze Age using data from recently concluded and ongoing projects at sites such as Hala Sultan Tekke Vyzakia, Pyla Kokkinokremos, the Maroni complex, Kalavasos Ayios Dhimitrios, Alassa Paliotaverna and Pano Mantilaris, Erimi Pitharka, Aredhiou Vouppes, Ayios Sozomenos Dzirpoulos and Ampelia, Palaepaphos, and Phlamoudhi Vounari. This chapter also addresses debates about the sociopolitical organization of Late Bronze Age Cyprus and long-standing discussions surrounding the presence of multiple independent polities as opposed to an island-wide polity. The chapter highlights the need to view the island’s political organization along a spectrum that shifted across different centuries, which is a reasonable approach considering the longevity of this period and the diversity in the material record.Chapter 4 is a thematic chapter offering an interpretation of the new material, architectural, and analytical evidence through the lens of mercantile and ceremonial practices. Intellectually, it builds on a recent publication by Knapp and Meyer (2023) focusing on the role of elite merchants. Undeniably seaborne trade was formative in the Cypriot economy during the Late Bronze Age. Moreover, the new evidence examined by Knapp (notably the finds of Hala Sultan Tekke) demonstrates both the depth and complexity of the island’s trade networks and the importance of smaller scale, island-wide maritime exchange. A short section discusses evidence for a merchant class through the mortuary record. Caution is needed when viewing the economy exclusively through the lens of copper, which is a long-standing approach to the island’s archaeology, as this approach could overlook the complex and diverse dimensions of alternative economies.Chapter 4 also offers a reassessment or perhaps enhancement of available evidence from contexts identified previously as ceremonial. The term ceremonial here is used intentionally; it reflects the lack of material or documentary evidence suggesting religion and avoids the use of less suitable terms such as cultic or ritual. Knapp adds three new ceremonial contexts to the known record of ritual culture. He then lists all contexts with material evidence for production exchange and storage. Finally, Chapter 4 discusses the defensive structures, also referred to as fortresses, tentatively dated to the Middle and (early) Late Bronze Age, briefly presenting up-to-date analytical information. This is an area that, in my view, would benefit from a longer conversation. Undeniably these fortresses pose significant challenges regarding their chronology, but they have nonetheless been studied more systematically in the recent years and likely played some role also in the island’s agrarian economy. Equally, the excavations at Ayios Sozomenos Ampelia in the Mesaoria plain, which revealed evidence for a structure with a possible courtyard, stone bases of large storage vessels, and imported ceramics, would benefit from a more detailed theoretical examination, given the often-dichotomous perception of the Cypriot economy as rural versus urban. Perhaps this discussion falls outside of the scope or interest of the book. It is nonetheless integral to our understanding of the Late Bronze Age economy.Chapter 5 discusses evidence or lack thereof of continuity between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. Much of the chapter is dedicated to rebutting Maria Iacovou’s Cypriot school of thought that advocates for a continuation of archaeological landscape practices between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age (Iacovou 2007). Key to these discussions are different patterns of site abandonment, which receive different interpretations. Adding further theoretical and analytical nuance to concepts such as continuity would be useful in this chapter.Chapter 6 includes Knapp’s final thoughts having reassessed the evidence available after his 2013 publication. Knapp maintains his position that the island’s economy during the Late Bronze Age was driven primarily by external demand for copper. He also maintains his position that the island was centrally controlled by a political figure referenced in the Near Eastern documentary record, while arguing that politico-economic agents on the island had the means to coordinate the production, distribution, and trade of copper. Similarly, as Knapp mentions, there was (in fact there has always been) scope for informal economic activities that can afford wealth outside of what may have been perceived as the formal “administrative state” (53)—a significant argument that would benefit from expansion.In the same chapter (6), Knapp lists what he describes as “stressors” (53) that led (instead of contributed) to widespread abandonment and in some cases destruction of sites at around 1200 BCE—something that he views as indicative of the “demise of centralised authority” (53). These stressors are defined as: more expansive external interactions, tin scarcity potentially affecting the value of copper, environmental change (particularly drier conditions), decentralizing tendencies that potentially destabilized the island-wide polity, destruction and abandonment of sites, and finally the Late Bronze Age crisis impacting the wider eastern Mediterranean. Ultimately, Knapp views the end of the Late Bronze Age as the political fragmentation of a centralized political configuration, the material iterations of which remain contentious in scholarly discourses.While this book is described as a reassessment of the settlement structure and society of Late Bronze Age Cyprus and undeniably integrates new information in existing narratives of the Late Bronze Age, new data is presented in a way that does not substantially shift existing narratives, not least Knapp’s longstanding interpretations supporting a centralized polity. A point of departure is perhaps the suggestion of the presence of decentralizing tendencies toward 1200 BCE that may have been instigated by powerful merchants.Undeniably this is a valuable resource for anyone working on the archaeology of Cyprus. At the same time, those unfamiliar with Cypriot archaeology will need to engage in further reading to fully comprehend the arguments presented in this volume. This is due in part to the brevity of the book, which leaves readers wanting more information, particularly on topics such as the economy of the island beyond copper and trade. Readers will first need to familiarize themselves with Knapp 2013 and several articles cited in this book. Overall, however, it is a thorough and well-written publication, essential for students and scholars of the archaeology of the Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean more broadly.