Urbanism on Late Bronze Age Cyprus: LC II in Retrospect

Abstract

The emergence of urbanism marks a profound change in the settlement pattern that prevailed on Cyprus during the prehistoric and protohistoric eras. Following the Neolithic "agricultural revolution" that evolved into the "secondary products revolution" of the Late Chalcolithic and Early Cypriot Bronze ages, urbanization was the most prominent innovation of the Middle/Late Cypriot Bronze Age transition. In retrospect, scholars are still wondering why the urban revolution started on Cyprus fairly late compared with other islands in the Mediterranean. However, it is generally agreed that the gradual movement from rural hinterland to coastal towns was not merely an internal socioeconomic process, but rather the outcome of overseas demand for Cypriot copper. Archaeological excavations indicate that the process of urbanization accelerated during the Late Cypriot period, although there is no consensus as to when it started to decline. Given the archaeological and historical evidence, it appears that on Cyprus this process was not an isolated local phenomenon. This paper reassesses the state of Late Cypriot urbanism in its wider Mediterranean perspective.

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