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This paper discusses the results of an analytical study of the metallurgical ceramic assemblage recovered from the Late Bronze Age (LBA) urban settlement of Enkomi, Cyprus. The ceramic fabric and the slagged surfaces of a total of 106 tuyère and crucible samples from the workshops of Enkomi, Area III, have been analysed using a handheld pXRF spectrometer. The aim of this preliminary study is to investigate the nature of the metallurgical activities taking place in the workshops of this settlement, one of the most (if not the most) important on LBA Cyprus. The metallurgical ceramics were used in the processing of copper. Compositional data suggest that secondary metallurgical activities were taking place at Enkomi. By gaining a better understanding on these activities, it will be possible to make inferences about the role held by Enkomi in the metal production in LBA Cyprus. We aim to contribute to the long-standing debate of the organisation of copper production and trade, a key aspect of the socio-political development of the island at that time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A collection of 157 copper alloy artefacts from the necropolis of Palaepaphos Skales, located in south-west Cyprus, dating to the 11th-8th centuries BC, was studied and chemically analysed with a handheld pXRF instrument to determine the alloy type that was used for their production. The collection consists of Cu–Sn binary alloys. The relative concentration of the two metals seems to have been determined by the type of artefact the alloy was used to produce. The results also imply that fresh rather than recycled metal was used. The majority of the artefacts are made of a bronze with an average tin content of 8.1 ± 2.2%. There is, however, a group of objects with a characteristic golden surface, under the patina, which was found to have a significantly higher tin concentration, that averages 18.6 ± 2.8% Sn. The lead content in the assemblage ranges from 0.1 to 2.6%. Because lead concentration in local Cypriot ores is unusually low, its presence is interpreted as a deliberate addition even at these low concentrations. The iron content ranges from 0.1 to 1.4%, while zinc is present only in 20 artefacts, exhibiting a concentration range of 0.2–1%. Both elements are believed to be non-intentional additions to the alloys, resulting from the smelting process and originating in the copper ores (which are sulphidic and closely associated with sphalerite). Arsenic is detected in 25 artefacts, in a concentration of 0.2%. The limited amount of arsenic in only a few of the artefacts under study may be the result of the use of polymetallic ores from the area of Limassol Forest, the only Cypriot ores where low amounts of arsenic can be detected, or can be interpreted as evidence for the possible use of recycled metal deriving from artefacts dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age. The present study provides significant evidence concerning the continuity of the use of bronze with high tin content in the area of Palaepaphos throughout the Early Iron Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exploitation of Cyprus's mineral wealth, mainly the copper deposits, and other natural resources, such as the forests, formed the basis of the island's economic prosperity and development from prehistoric times until Late Antiquity. The control of the metal resources of the island would have been a primary and pressing preoccupation of the kings--indeed, the successful management of this multi-stage activity must have defined, in part, the very identity and power structure of Cypriot kingship, as well as the geopolitical (territorial) and economic ambitions of the kings themselves. The following contribution focuses on the exploitation and control of the metal resources of the island by the Cypriot kingdoms in the Iron Age. It takes a regional approach in exploring the evidence for copper production in the Iron Age; it also examines the available information regarding the export of copper in this period. Before presenting the evidence from the Iron Age, a brief introduction to the geology of the island is offered. Then, in order to elucidate the metallurgical evidence during the age of the city kingdoms, a summary is presented of what is currently known about the exploitation of the copper deposits and the production and trade of copper before the first millennium B.C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the excavations at Politiko Phorades denoting the prevalence of copper smelting in the late Bronze Age Cyprus. Presence of slag at the excavation site of prevalence Features of the pottery of Phorades; Collection of melting furnaces from the sites.

The antiquity of human dispersal into Mediterranean islands and ensuing coastal adaptation have remained largely unexplored due to the prevailing assumption that the sea was a barrier to movement and that islands were hostile environments to early hunter-gatherers [J. F. Cherry, T. P. Leppard, J. Isl. Coast. Archaeol. 13, 191-205 (2018), 10.1080/15564894.2016.1276489]. Using the latest archaeological data, hindcasted climate projections, and age-structured demographic models, we demonstrate evidence for early arrival (14,257 to 13,182 calendar years ago) to Cyprus and predicted that large groups of people (~1,000 to 1,375) arrived in 2 to 3 main events occurring within <100 y to ensure low extinction risk. These results indicate that the postglacial settlement of Cyprus involved only a few large-scale, organized events requiring advanced watercraft technology. Our spatially debiased and Signor-Lipps-corrected estimates indicate rapid settlement of the island within <200 y, and expansion to a median of 4,000 to 5,000 people (0.36 to 0.46 km-2) in <11 human generations (<300 y). Our results do not support the hypothesis of inaccessible and inhospitable islands in the Mediterranean for pre-agropastoralists, agreeing with analogous conclusions for other parts of the world [M. I. Bird et al., Sci. Rep. 9, 8220 (2019), 10.1038/s41598-019-42946-9]. Our results also highlight the need to revisit these questions in the Mediterranean and test their validity with new technologies, field methods, and data. By applying stochastic models to the Mediterranean region, we can place Cyprus and large islands in general as attractive and favorable destinations for paleolithic peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excavations at the sacred precinct of the Late Bronze Age city of Kition uncovered the remains of metalworking workshops which were clearly associated with the temples. The results of the excavation as well as a number of specialist reports of the archaeometallurgical finds have already been published. Since their publication, however, archaeological research has progressed and new evidence has come to light regarding the Late Bronze Age in general and metalworking in particular. The object of this paper is to present the finds from these workshops and reconsider some of the issues that their discovery has raised. The results of the previous studies of the archaeometallurgical studies are critically assessed and the evidence reinterpreted based on what is available today. One of the issues addressed is that of metal recycling during the Late Bronze Age. This communication was presented at a research workshop organized by the Israel Science Foundation and the University of Haifa on 'Recycling, Hoarding and Trade in Bronze, 13th-11th centuries BCE' (Haifa 26-28 April, 1998). The first part of the paper was written by Karageorghis, the second part by Kassianidou. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predictive models have become an integral part of archaeological research, particularly in the discovery of new archaeological sites. In this paper, we apply predictive modeling to map high potential Pleistocene archaeological locales on the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean. The model delineates landscape characteristics that denote areas with high potential to unearth Pleistocene archaeology while at the same time highlighting localities that should be excluded. The predictive model was employed in surface surveys to systematically access high probability locales on Cyprus. A number of newly identified localities suggests that the true density of mobile hunter-gatherer sites on Cyprus is seriously underestimated in current narratives. By adding new data to this modest corpus of early insular sites, we are able to contribute to debates regarding island colonisation and the role of coastal environments in human dispersals to new territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seaborne movement underpins frontier research in prehistoric archaeology, including water-crossings in the context of human dispersals, and island colonisation. Yet, it also controls the degree of interaction between locations, which in turn is essential for investigating the properties of maritime networks. The onset of the Holocene (circa 12,000 years ago) is a critical period for understanding the origins of early visitors/inhabitants to the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean in connection with the spread of Neolithic cultures in the region. The research undertaken in this work exemplifies the synergies between archaeology, physical sciences and geomatics, towards providing novel insights on the feasibility of drift-induced seaborne movement and the corresponding trip duration between Cyprus and coastal regions on the surrounding mainland. The overarching objective is to support archaeological inquiry regarding the possible origins of these visitors/inhabitants—Anatolia and/or the Levant being two suggested origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Picrolite artefacts comprise some of the most distinctive material remains in the prehistory of the island of Cyprus, in the Eastern Mediterranean. Picrolite exploitation dates from at least 12,000 years ago for the manufacture of personal ornaments and items with a symbolic function. It is commonly assumed that picrolite nodules were collected in secondary deposits on an ad hoc basis. This narrative, however, ignores the fact that picrolite carriers can only be found in very specific locations on the island, discrete from each other. Here we report initial outcomes of the application of handheld portable X-ray fluorescence (HHpXRF) and synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (SR-μXRF) to the analysis of picrolite raw materials performed at the newly opened PUMA beamline of the SOLEIL Synchrotron Radiation Facility. Our work refines the basic characteristics of the elemental constituents of the picrolite raw material and highlights key micro-structural differences between two distinct source regions on the Troodos Massif in western Cyprus. Picrolite source characterisation is expected to contribute significant new knowledge to the study of rare raw material consumption, prehistoric social organisation, networking and possible long-distance exchange of this idiosyncratic raw material within and beyond the island's geographic boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: For metallurgical processes in antiquity functional materials were required, which were sufficiently heat resistant. Commonly, ceramics were used for the production of furnaces, tuyères and crucibles. Because normal pottery usually could not withstand the extreme temperatures, which were needed for metallurgical operations, the ceramic production process had to be modified. An analytical case study will be presented on refractory ceramics from the Late Bronze Age copper smelting site Politiko-Phorades (Cyprus). Cyprus had a major role in copper production, starting from this period, and the selected site is the earliest primary smelting site discovered in Cyprus until now. Furnace and tuyère fragments were analysed chemically and mineralogically, in order to investigate ancient ceramic technology in view of heat resistance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper challenges the conventional characterisation of glazed ware productions in the eastern Mediterranean, especially the ones which did not feature the use of opaque or tin-glazed technology, as technologically stagnant and unsusceptible to broader socio-economic developments from the late medieval period onwards. Focusing on the Cypriot example, we devise a new approach that combines scientific analyses (thin-section petrography and SEM-EDS) and a full consideration of the chaîne opératoire in context to highlight the changes in technology and craft organisation of glazed ware productions concentrating in the Paphos, Famagusta and Lapithos region during the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries CE. Our results indicate that the Paphos production was short-lived, lasting from the establishment of Frankish rule in Cyprus in the thirteenth century to the aftermath of the fall of the Crusader campaigns in the fourteenth century. However, glazed ware production continued in Famagusta and Lapithos from the late thirteenth/fourteenth centuries through to the seventeenth century, using technical practices that were evidently different from the Paphos production. It is possible that these productions were set up to serve the new, local demands deriving from an intensification of commercial activities on the island. Further changes occurred to the technical practices of the Famagusta and Lapithos productions around the 16th/17th centuries, coinciding with the displacement of populations and socio-political organisation brought by the Ottoman rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origins of copper-based metallurgy on the island of Cyprus, which became the main supplier of the metal in the Late Bronze Age in the Mediterranean and whose name became associated with the metal, is relatively obscure. While metal extraction and metal artefacts became increasingly important in the broader Near East, early metallurgy on Cyprus remains poorly known, and it is often postulated that metals were of limited importance on the island prior to the Philia phase. Here we present a unique context from the Late Chalcolithic (ca. 2800-2400 BC) from the excavations at Chlorakas-Palloures that has considerable ramifications for this debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]