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The decipherment of Linear B in 1952 raised the possibility for further decipherments among the Aegean scripts. This unrealised prospect has coloured studies hitherto published on the Cypro-Minoan script with the result that there has been no large-scale systematic study that has employed a pragmatic and exhaustive perspective with a view to establishing a corpus and a critical re-assessment of the applicability of a decipherment method. This thesis aims at filling such a lacuna and responds to the need for a systematic analysis of the script through a corpus of all the inscriptions, here in Volume II (Catalogue) and a full analysis, in Volume I (Text), of the script from historical, archaeological, epigraphic and palaeographical perspectives. The historical conditions for the birth of literacy in Cyprus at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age are investigated in Chapter I, and are founded on a model that considers the material aspect of writing (script as part of the archaeological record, the extent of literacy, the geographical distribution of the inscriptions, the geo-political configuration of Cyprus, the concept of complexity), the functionality of the script (ideological and/or utilitarian applications), and also the symbolic aspect, linked to the realm of status representation and to the relationships between the various socio-political institutions involved in the creation of writing. From an interpretative perspective, the appearance of the script is examined in its symbolic manifestations, politically motivated and hierarchically marked within the manipulation of ideological significata. Following from the analysis of the distribution of the inscriptions, the archaeological investigation in Chapter 2 aims at establishing the relationship between Enkomi---which yielded the great majority of the inscriptions---and the other urban centres, in Cyprus and beyond, in which Cypro-Minoan was discovered. The script is considered in its different strategic significances, marked by a high level of regionalism within the power dynamics of the complex societies of Late Bronze Age Cyprus. Despite the uneven (or altogether absent) information offered by the extant publications as to the contextual associations and strata of many inscribed objects, a survey of how the script was used in each centre is proposed as well as a tentative interpretation of the function of the enigmatic clay bottles. The current classification of the inscriptions into three separate subgroups, CM1, CM2, CM3 (each allegedly hiding a different language), is critiqued in Chapter 3 and its invalidity is established through a review of its divisive, contradictory principles. The inscriptions are thus analysed from a new epigraphic dimension: the extent of ductus variation is seen in its close relationship to the wide range of typological classes of inscribed objects, and the scribal practices are analysed through a detailed study of all inscriptions that encompasses variability of reading direction, opisthography, pleurography, sematography, and metrology. In this respect, the role played by the Near Eastern writing traditions is assessed. Chapter 4 is dedicated to the palaeography of the script. The contributions to the study of this discipline with regard to Cypro-Minoan are appraised. The signary requires a formal rationalisation. The tripartite division has led to a fragmentary view of the script, and the present high level of palaeographical variation of the signs must be re-evaluated. The Cypro-Minoan syllabary as it stands, must be reduced if it is not to be disassociated from its Aegean lineage in which an open syllable configuration is prominent. Through a statistical frequency assessment of each discrete sign in its relative word-position (initial, medial and final) corroborated by the analysis of the significant sequences in which the sign is attested, possible assimilations of isographs with similar word-distributions are suggested. The palaeographical study further dissolves the tripartite classification and achieves a cohesive appreciation of the script.

The Cypro-Geometric period (CG, 1100-750 BC) is a transitional period between two distinct socio-political landscapes – those of the Late Bronze Age and the Cypro-Archaic. Traditionally, the CG has been studied as a coda to other periods, mainly due to the mortuary-based evidence being considered complex and unwieldy and of little value to studies of social and political development. In reality, the vast quantity of data has huge potential for any study of the Early Iron Age on Cyprus. Furthermore, a shift in academic interest in Cypriot Iron Age archaeology has resulted in a move away from discussions centering on the origins and modes of foreign interaction on Cyprus at the end of the Bronze Age, towards a focus on all aspects of the emergence of the social and political institutions of the Cypro-Archaic period. The CG played a seminal role in these developments, yet the mortuary evidence has remained scattered throughout journals and excavation reports, restricting their use and leading conclusions to be drawn from limited datasets. The aim of this study is to facilitate a reconsideration of the CG as a vibrant and pivotal phase in Cypriot protohistory. It brings together an unprecedented database containing details of 1406 tombs, including all those currently known to date to the CG period. Drawing on three specific case-study sites at Amathus, Palaepaphos and Salamis, and through the application of a strict methodological approach, the mortuary evidence is examined for indications of changing mortuary practices and portrayals of identity. Employing a complex combination of mortuary and identity theory the data are examined to reveal social and political changes underway in the Cypro-Geometric period. This fresh look at the CG mortuary record highlights the quantity, quality and potential of the extant data, and offers a reinterpretation of the socio-political development of the island at the start of the Iron Age.

The present thesis provides a methodological examination of Pyla-Kokkinokremos and Maa-Palaeokastro, two settlement-sites that were established in Cyprus during the transition from the Late Cypriot IIC (roughly the thirteenth century BC) to the Late Cypriot IIIA (roughly the twelfth century BC). These two settlements were extremely short-lived and persisted for merely a couple of generations before their eventual abandonment. The period under consideration is often referred to as the “Crisis Years”, and marks a time when the politically and economically powerful land-based polities of the eastern Mediterranean were brought to an end. The foundation of Pyla-Kokkinokremos and Maa-Palaeokastro coincides with these critical years for the eastern Mediterranean and the upheaval of the settlement pattern of Cyprus. Since their excavation, the two sites have been considered as two very controversial and intriguing phenomena. Their selected position on top of naturally fortified locations and the marked absence of perennial water sources in their vicinity suggested that they were established in order to fulfil a special purpose. The original suggestion put forward by the excavator that Pyla-Kokkinokremos and Maa-Palaeokastro represent the earliest establishments of refugees fleeing from the Aegean following the palatial collapse has been questioned by a number of scholars, who insist on the Cypriot character of the two sites, and therefore consider them as outposts established by local populations. This dissertation provides a re-examination of the topographical setting of the two settlements, their architectural characteristics and their material culture, mostly pottery, aiming to determine the series of events that led to their establishment, as well as the roles and functions fulfilled by the two sites. The objective of this study is not exclusively concerned with the detailed presentation of excavated architectural and artefactual remains from Pyla-Kokkinokremos and Maa-Palaeokastro. In extent, the aims of this thesis are to define the character of Cyprus during the years marking the transition from the thirteenth to the twelfth century BC, and examine transformations in the settlement pattern of the island, its socio-political landscape and provide a holistic approach of its material culture.