Periods
The archaeology of Cyprus is divided into periods, each defined by changes in settlement, burial, pottery and contact with the wider world. The dates below are approximate and several of the boundaries are debated. Each period links to a full overview and to the compendium entries that cover it.
Pleistocene to c. 12,000 cal BP
Pleistocene to c. 12,000 cal BP
Cyprus Before Humans
Pleistocene Cyprus, an oceanic island of dwarf hippos, dwarf elephants, a genet and an endemic mouse, and its first human visitors at Akrotiri-Aetokremnos.
c. 9000–4000/3900 BCE
c. 9000–4000/3900 BCE
Neolithic
The period c. 9000–3900 BCE in which farmers from the mainland settled Cyprus, built villages of circular houses, and later adopted pottery.
c. 3900–2500 BCE
c. 3900–2500 BCE
Chalcolithic
The period c. 3900–2500 BCE of circular villages, Red-on-White pottery, picrolite cruciform figures and the island's first small-scale copper working.
c. 2500–1950 BCE
c. 2500–1950 BCE
Early Bronze Age
The period c. 2500–1950 BCE, from the Philia phase through Early Cypriot I–III, of rectilinear villages, Red Polished pottery and chamber-tomb cemeteries.
c. 1950–1650 BCE (absolute dates debated)
c. 1950–1650 BCE (absolute dates debated)
Middle Bronze Age
The Middle Cypriot period, c. 1950–1650 BCE, of multi-roomed village houses, White Painted pottery, growing copper production and the first overseas trade.
c. 1650–1050 BCE
c. 1650–1050 BCE
Late Bronze Age
The Late Cypriot period, c. 1650–1050 BCE, when copper exports made Cyprus an urban, literate trading power before the crisis around 1200 BCE.
c. 1050–750 BCE
c. 1050–750 BCE
Cypro-Geometric
The Early Iron Age of Cyprus, c. 1050–750 BCE, of new dromos tombs, early ironworking, the Cypriot Syllabary and the debated origins of the city-kingdoms.
c. 750–475 BCE (start date debated)
c. 750–475 BCE (start date debated)
Cypro-Archaic
The age of the Cypriot city-kingdoms, c. 750–475 BCE, under Assyrian, Egyptian and Persian overlordship, with rural sanctuaries and regional pottery styles.
c. 480–310 BCE (end date debated)
c. 480–310 BCE (end date debated)
Cypro-Classical
The last phase of the Cypriot city-kingdoms, c. 480–310 BCE, under loose Persian overlordship, ending when Ptolemy I abolished the kings.
c. 310–31 BCE
c. 310–31 BCE
Hellenistic
The Ptolemaic period in Cyprus, c. 310–31 BCE, when the city-kingdoms were abolished and the island was governed as one province from Nea Paphos.
58 BCE–c. 330/395 CE
58 BCE–c. 330/395 CE
Roman
Cyprus as a Roman province from 58 BCE to the fourth century CE, governed from Nea Paphos, mined for copper, and finally wrecked by earthquakes.