The Early-Middle Bronze Age in Cyprus (c. 2300-1650 BCE) is still poorly understood, in spite of Cyprus's strategic importance in the Mediterranean and the revolutionary cultural transformations that occurred at the end of this period. The west coast in particular, has remained a relatively blank spot on the map of the Eastern Mediterranean, where excavations have been entirely lacking until very recently. In the absence of excavated sites, a great deal of information regarding western Cypriot society from this period must be derived from pottery. This thesis aims to understand the nature of the ceramic material culture in the west through an analysis of the ceramics from the cemetery of Kissonerga-Ammoudhia, at present the largest corpus of western Cypriot funerary pottery from this period. The entire excavated assemblage is presented and a multidisciplinary approach to the ceramics is applied. A traditional typological study was conducted on the entire assemblage, and a microscopic petrographic analysis applied to a sample in order to identify the manufacturing techniques used by the potters. This corpus of information can be used to test the nature and validity of evidence for regional identity. Although there appears to be a broadly similar culture with the rest of the island, the ceramics from Ammoudhia nevertheless show significant differences to those from contemporary sites. This site contains a very large amount of Drab Polished ware; little known elsewhere, this poorly understood, but potentially vital type of pottery appears to be a western local tradition. Although originally dated to the late Middle Bronze Age, this thesis provides evidence for a considerably earlier date in western Cyprus. It also argues for this being a very long lived ware with particularly sophisticated manufacturing techniques, and is one of the technological precursors to Base Ring ware, the ubiquitous pottery vessels of the Late Bronze Age. This thesis places western Cyprus into an island-wide context, allowing for meaningful comparisons with contemporaneous sites and lays the foundations for a clearer understanding of the chronological and technological sequence, fitting into our understanding of the precursors to secondary state formation, in particular: funerary and ritual practices, trade and exchange and technological advances. This corpus from the Kissonerga Ammoudhia cemetery represents the first ever study of a large body of information from the Early-Middle Bronze Age of Western Cyprus. As such it can provide both the framework for further analyses, as well as the first glimpses of the unique culture of this area, and an understanding of how this region fits into the wider Bronze Age Mediterranean world.

The production and trade in copper and bronze was one of the major features of the complex societies in the Near East and Mediterranean during the third to first millennia B.C. While finished metal objects are common finds from the period, ancient metal ingots and hoards of scrap metal, as well as archaeological evidence of metallurgical activities, are often more important sources of information for how ancient technology and trade functioned. Shipwrecks, particularly those found off the coast of Turkey at Uluburun and Cape Gelidonya, as well as mining and smelting sites in the Mediterranean region, provide invaluable information on the production and trade of copper and tin, the main ingredients of bronze. In this thesis, I examine the evolution of the copper trade in the eastern and central Mediterranean, particularly during the Late Bronze Age, when ‘oxhide’ ingots were widely exported. Finds of oxhide ingots have increased dramatically in recent years, and no synthesis of all of this newly available evidence is currently available. I attempt to analyze this new evidence in relation to older finds and research, with a particular focus on the cargo of the Uluburun shipwreck, the largest collection of Bronze Age metal ingots from a single site in the Mediterranean. The history of oxhide ingot production is complex, but by the Late Bronze Age Cyprus was supplying much of the copper used to neighboring regions, with revolutionary effects on societies in Cyprus and elsewhere. The archaeological evidence shows that oxhide ingots are early examples of a standardized industrial product made for export by emerging state-level societies during the second millennium B.C. and fueled the development of international trade, metallurgical technology, and complex social institutions in a variety of Mediterranean societies from Egypt and the Levant, Greece, Cyprus, to Sardinia in the central Mediterranean.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 283-285). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

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Akademisk avhandling--Stockholms Universitet. / Extra t.p., with thesis statement, inserted. Bibliography: p. 333-338.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brown University, 2005. / Vita. Thesis advisor: R. Ross Holloway. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-137). Also available online.

The stable isotopes carbon and nitrogen from 18 skeletal and 51 dental samples from various burial contexts at the Bronze and Iron Age sites of Mitrou and Tragana Agia Triada are examined to understand diet in prehistoric central Greece. The samples are compared by cultural period, site, and burial type in order to determine if diet was affected by changes in society or by social status as determined by burial form. In addition, isotopic data from across Greece is compared to understand diet from the Neolithic to Iron Age and in different regions of the country. The results of the Mitrou-TAT study indicate no change in diet through time or between the two sites. No significant differences were found between diet and burial types as well. When applied to the broader aspect of societal change, these results suggest that, even with a significant societal change, diet is not significantly influenced.

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The general homogeneity of artifacts of the Intermediate Early Bronze - Middle Bronze Age in Palestine has been acknowledged for some years, but the evidence for a relative chronology and typology of objects within the period is based largely on the contents of tombs. Since the surveys of Nelson Glueck in Transjordan it has been apparent that in this region there exist a very large number of EB.MB settlement sites with artifacts directly comparable to those of Contemporary Palestine. It was hoped therefore that some evidence for development within the period might be more readily discernible in Transjordan than in Palestine, where regional differences between cemeteries were sufficiently marked to make any chronological succession very difficult to establish. If the order of succession could be achieved in Transjordan, it would therefore elucidate some of the most difficult problems of chronology in Palestine, as well as shedding light on an area that was in itself insufficiently well known. Subsequently the scope of this research was widened to include all areas within which this homogeneous culture was discernible. This study is based therefore on the field work of several seasons in Syria, Lebanon and particularly Transjordan. It is primarily a collation of most aspects of archaeological evidence in the areas where objects typical of the EB.MB period have been found, and a discussion of the inferences which may be drawn from this evidence. The period is defined chronoigically c. 2350 - 1900 B.C., and at the outset the general basis of terminology and chronology accepted in this study are defined, as there are a multiplicity of terms currently in use. The first section attempts a very short summary of the literary and historical evidence from Mesopotamia, Egypt and Syria-Palestine which bears on the questions of the ethnic identity of the occupants of Palestine - Syria in the late third - early second millennia and what evidence there is for population movements. Although there is no direct historical solution to these problems, such historical evidence as there is must provide a framework within which the archaeological evidence can be more accurately assessed. The second section is concerned with the geographical evidence. The first topic is the limits of settlement of EB.MB peoples based on the evidence of archaeological survey, only in terms of people using artifacts directly comparable to those in Palestine. Sources and methods are described. The discussion which follows suggests topographical and climatic factors which appear to have influenced settlement at this time, and finally some tentative suggestions are made concerning political and social organization, and direction of settlement. Distribution of sites and the surface evidence suggest that new influences are most likely to have come from the north-east, penetrating Palestine and TransJordan by way of the major river valleys. Section three, dealing with the pottery, contains the weight of the evidence for the conclusions. It deals first with a description of the excavations and pottery from Tell Iktanu, which provided the basis for the pottery typology and relative chronology of the EB.MB in Transjordan. There follows a discussion of the comparative material from surface survey and excavation in Transjordan which suggests where this material should be placed in relation to regional and chronological variations. The main inferences which can be drawn from this pottery evidence are that much of the pottery is directly derived from that of the local EBA, and secondly that there are definable "innovating features" as opposed to mere typological developments from EBA to EB.MB; and that therefore if the origins of these innovations can be traced, a clear case for the origins of the new population element which intermingled with that of the EBA should also be indicated. A brief survey of the contemporary archaeology of areas to the north indicates that apart from the south Lebanon cemeteries no direct contacts for either EB.MB pottery or the "innovating features" are found in Lebanon. The central Syrian pottery shows greater complexity, but the conclusion is that a sequence Kama K - Kama J - Qatna Tomb IV -r Hama H excludes the "innovating features" observed in TransJordan, and that contemporary Hama J develops from three major urban traditions a) late Early Dynastic III of north Syria indicated mainly in Hama J8-7, b) Sargonid of north Syria from Hama J7 onwards, and c) Levantine EBA throughout. The direct links for the "innovating features", dated c.2350 B.C. in Transjordan, are found in the ED III traditions of the central Euphrates region, from Mari, Til Barsip, Harran, Amarna and Hammam, and it is concluded that people who were associated, but not perhaps directly part of that urban tradition, migrated south from their homelands following the campaigns of Lugalzagesi, the Akkadian expansion in north Mesopotamia and campaigns of Sargon. A secondary influence is traced c.2100-2000 B.C. affecting Palestine more considerably than TransJordan, of which the origins are not clearly discernible, but which are probably due to new influences rather than influxes of new people. The degree of continuity in population and pottery typology is however stressed for the whole period. Sections four and five deal with the stone and metal work. The flints in particular indicate continuity of "Canaanean" traditions from EBA through EB.MB to MBA. There are not many metal objects on which to base a relative typology, but it is also suggested that throughout the period the pin types in particular indicate greater continuity of early inland Syrian traditions than has previously been recognised. Section six shows that there is considerable diversity of grave types, but again tentatively suggests there is a clear, and probably early, north Syrian influence on a basically EBA tradition, and concludes by suggesting that traditions of burial are one of the very few factors by which the assimilation of the EB.MB population in MBA society post-1900 B.C. can be detected archaeologically. Section seven is concerned with the evidence of habitation. It is generally agreed that the EB.MB period is one of nomadic or semi-nomadic occupation, but in some respects the evidence for sedentary occupation has been denigrated. The evidence for both ways of life is reviewed and it is concluded that there are two major processes involved, i) the decline of EBA urban civilization which nonetheless has a lingering influence in the EB.MB period and ii) the introduction of a semi-nomadic element in the population which gradually shows a tendency to settle permanently in fertile areas. In the concluding chapter a few other aspects of the EB.MB period are discussed, including the suggestion that cattle played an important part in pastoralism, and that there was sufficient agriculture to indicate not more than partial nomadism. A brief summary of other views of typology and the origins of the people of the EB.MB period is then followed by conclusions based on the evidence of the previous chapters. These conclusions are that c. 2350 B.C. semi-nomadic people arrived in Transjordan from north Syria and intermingled with the probably West Semitic EB III population. These newcomers may also have been West Semites, but there is no definite evidence that they were Amorites though the evidence does not exclude the possibility. This population remained largely unchanged, and in considerable isolation, until c. 1900 B.C. There are new influences apparent c. 2100 B.C. but the basic continuity of artifacts and social order is clear, and the changes probably do not indicate a large influx of new people.

Cyclopean masonry, used to construct the LH III fortifications on mainland Greece, has been broadly defined as being of large irregular-shaped blocks, commonly of local limestone, unworked or roughly dressed and assembled without mortar, but with small stones set in interstices. Unfortunately, this is the extent to which this masonry has been defined, leaving unanswered questions concerning building style, engineering techniques, and the amount of labour invested in the projects. The heavily fortified palatial/residential complexes of Mycenaean Greece have often been considered the result of an unsettled and aggressive society; however, an investigation into the types and location of the various structures suggest that the walls were designed to conspicuously display wealth. Cyclopean stonework is not confined to the citadels, but includes the elaborate drainage project of the Copais and a system of road networks, both which would suggest a high level of cooperation between communities. Indeed, calculations made in considering resource availability demonstrate that fortifications exceeded all defensive requirements and were probably constructed in then- initial form as part of a programme promoting and strengthening the status of the state through a display of its wealth in large scale building programmes. These monumental fortifications are often believed to have then- origins elsewhere in the Aegean, Cyprus, or the Near East; however, the evidence points to an independent development on mainland Greece. Features of the fortifications are analysed and compared to earlier and contemporary forms of Aegean, Cypriote, and Near Eastern structures in order to understand similarities and/or differences in construction, with a particular emphasis on those structures outside the Greek mainland that have been labelled as "Cyclopean". The conclusion reached is that in each geographical region the fortifications form a distinct group. In order to determine the origins of Cyclopean masonry on the Greek mainland, Cyclopean structures other than fortifications are studied and the masonry style is classified into a typology for an understanding of differences in regional work or date. This information is then used to understand Mycenaean social complexity, defined as the resultant behaviours of individuals or groups functioning within a larger collective assembly whose attitudes and actions, either directly or indirectly, affect the larger community, and to show how previous notions of an aggressive and warring society maybe inaccurate. Although the Mycenaean culture may have been competitive, its means for competition and displays of wealth could only have been achieved through cooperative measures.