Topic
Burial
Graves, tombs and cemeteries: how the dead were treated and what was buried with them, from Neolithic burials beneath houses to Iron Age royal tombs.
55 entries in 10 sections
Pottery
25 entriesSection overview
Red Polished Philia WareThe hand-made, red-slipped and polished pottery of the Philia facies, strikingly uniform across Cyprus at the opening of the Bronze Age.Early Bronze Age- Red Polished WareRed Polished is the hand-made, red-slipped and burnished pottery that dominated Cyprus in the Early and Middle Bronze Age.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age
Black Polished WareBlack Polished is a handmade Early and Middle Bronze Age ware with a black burnished slip, used for small incised vessels in north-coast and Mesaoria tombs.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age
White Painted WareThe hand-made, pale-slipped Bronze Age pottery of Cyprus painted with dark matt geometric motifs, flourishing in the Middle Bronze Age as WP I to VI.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age
Mycenaean Imports and Local ImitationsMycenaean pottery, mostly made in the north-east Peloponnese, was the largest body of imported fine ware in Late Bronze Age Cyprus, and Cypriot potters copied some of its shapes.Late Bronze Age
Proto-White Painted WareThe wheel-thrown, matt-painted pottery of Late Cypriot IIIB, c. 1125–1050 BCE, which merged earlier Aegean-style wares and led into Iron Age White Painted I.Late Bronze AgeCypro-Geometric
Medieval Glazed Sgraffito WareWheel-made red-clay tableware coated in white slip, incised through the slip and lead-glazed, made in Cypriot workshops from the 13th to the 16th century AD.
AmphoraA closed jar with two opposed handles, made in Cyprus in belly-handled and vertical-handled painted series and as a basket-handled transport jar.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
BirdsThe bird on Cypriot pottery, modelled on Bronze Age Red Polished vessels and painted as the main subject of Cypro-Archaic free-field jugs.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
BottlesA narrow-necked closed vessel with no handle or with two, made in Cyprus from the Early Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period, mostly as a small container for liquids.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenistic
BowlsThe open vessel deeper than a plate and without a pouring neck, the one Cypriot pottery shape made without a break from the Neolithic to the Iron Age.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Complex VesselsComposite, multiple and ring vessels built by multiplying or joining ordinary shapes, mostly Bronze Age tomb pieces, plus figure vases, arm-vessels, incense burners, stands and miniatures.ChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenistic
CupsA small open vessel with one or two handles, made for drinking; in Cyprus it runs from Bronze Age handled cups to Iron Age skyphoi and kantharoi.Middle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Dippers and LadlesA small vessel with a single handle set high above its body, made to be lowered into a larger container and lifted out full.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-Geometric
Dishes and PlatesThe flat two-handled plate, absent from the Bronze Age repertoire, that appears in advanced Cypro-Geometric I and carries its main decoration on the underside.Cypro-Geometric
FlasksA closed vessel flattened from side to side, common in Cyprus from the Middle Bronze Age, revived as the lentoid pilgrim flask in the Late Bronze Age and made in the Iron Age.ChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Jars and PithoiA symmetrical wide-necked vessel, the family of Cypriot storage and transport jars, pithoi and painted jars, including the amphora.ChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenistic
JugletsA juglet is a small one-handled jug with a narrow neck, made in Cyprus in most wares and widely exported as a container for perfumed oil.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Jugs and JugletsA one-handled vessel with a neck, the commonest closed shape in Cypriot pottery, made from the start of the Bronze Age to the Cypro-Classical period.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
KratersA large open vessel for mixing and serving drink, imported from the Aegean and made locally in Cyprus from the Late Bronze Age onwards.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicHellenistic
LampsA small hand-held vessel that burned oil or fat on a wick, made in Cyprus as an open saucer from the Late Bronze Age and as a closed lamp from the Hellenistic period.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenisticRoman
ShipsThe ship as a pottery subject in Cyprus, modelled in clay from the Late Bronze Age to the Cypro-Archaic period and painted on Iron Age jugs.Middle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
SnakesThe snake as a decorative and figural motif in Cyprus, from relief bands on Early Bronze Age Red Polished pottery to Archaic terracottas and Classical limestone.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
StrainersAny vessel with deliberate perforations that let liquid through and hold solids back, from Base Ring strainer jars to Iron Age strainer jugs and bronze strainers.Middle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Tulip Bowls and Cult VesselsDeep, conical, black-topped Red Polished bowls of Early Cypriot I–II, and their elaborate protome-rimmed form, known mostly from the tombs of Vounous.Early Bronze Age
Statues
10 entriesSection overview
Base Ring Bull VesselsHand-built Base Ring ware pouring vessels in the form of a bull, made in Late Bronze Age Cyprus and found in tombs, settlements and sanctuaries.Late Bronze Age
Base Ring Figurines (Astarte Type)Handmade Base Ring ware terracotta figurines of nude women from Late Bronze Age Cyprus, found in tombs and houses and often linked to Astarte.Late Bronze Age
Cruciform FigurinesSmall stylised human figures with outstretched arms and bent legs, carved mostly in picrolite in Chalcolithic Cyprus and often worn as pendants.Chalcolithic
Horse and Rider FigurinesTerracotta figurines of a mounted rider, dedicated in sanctuaries and placed in tombs across Iron Age Cyprus, most abundantly in the Cypro-Archaic period.Cypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Plank FiguresFlat, rectangular, stylised human figures, mostly in incised Red Polished clay, made in Cyprus from Early Cypriot IIIA to Middle Cypriot II.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age- Red Polished Zoomorphic Vessels and Animal FigurinesRed Polished ware animal figurines, animal protomes applied to vessels, and animal-shaped askoi of Early and Middle Bronze Age Cyprus, mostly from tombs.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age
Reliefs and StelaeCarved limestone reliefs, funerary stelae and relief plaques from Cyprus, made from the 6th century BCE into the early Roman period.Cypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenisticRoman
Stone Plank FiguresA rare class of about fourteen Bronze Age Cypriot plank figures carved in gypsum, chalk or limestone, most of them without a recorded find-spot.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age
Terracotta FigurinesSmall clay figures made in Cyprus by hand, on the wheel or in moulds, from Chalcolithic birthing figures to the Cypro-Archaic sanctuary votives.ChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenistic- The Statues of Ancient CyprusSectionThe statues and figurines of ancient Cyprus, in stone, clay and metal, from Neolithic pebble figures to Hellenistic and Roman limestone votives.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenisticRoman
Jewelry
1 entrySection overview
Weapons and Armour
2 entriesSection overview
Arms and Armour of Iron Age CyprusThe iron and bronze weapons, armour and chariots of Cyprus from the first iron daggers of c. 1100–1050 BCE to the end of the city-kingdoms around 310 BCE.Cypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Weapons of Bronze Age CyprusThe copper and bronze weapons of Bronze Age Cyprus, from Philia hook-tang spearheads and riveted daggers to the Naue II swords and greaves of Enkomi.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze Age
Tools and Technologies
4 entriesSection overview
Glass in Ancient CyprusGlass vessels found on Cyprus from the Late Bronze Age to the Roman period, mostly from tombs, with local workshops argued but never excavated.Late Bronze AgeCypro-ClassicalHellenisticRoman
Metal VesselsBowls, cauldrons, jugs, cups, strainers and the bronze stands that carried them, made in Cyprus from the Late Bronze Age to the Cypro-Archaic period.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Spindle Whorls and Textile Tools in Ancient CyprusThe tools of spinning, weaving and dyeing in ancient Cyprus, from Neolithic bone needles to the terracotta whorls and loom weights of the Bronze Age.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze Age
Stone VesselsContainers ground or carved from stone, the main vessel type of Neolithic Khirokitia and a prestige and cosmetic class again in Late Bronze Age Cyprus.NeolithicChalcolithicLate Bronze AgeCypro-Classical
Architecture
1 entrySection overview
Mortuary Practices
4 entriesSection overview
Neolithic and Chalcolithic Burial in CyprusBurial on Cyprus from the first farming villages to the eve of the Bronze Age, mostly contracted bodies in pits beneath or beside houses.NeolithicChalcolithic
Vounous and Early Bronze Age BurialBellapais-Vounous is a north-coast cemetery of rock-cut chamber tombs whose figured Red Polished grave goods define Early Bronze Age burial in Cyprus.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age
Bronze Age Chamber TombsRock-cut chambers entered by a dromos and reopened for successive burials were the standard Cypriot grave from the Philia phase to the end of the Bronze Age.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze Age- Society, Ritual, and Identity in Ancient Cypriot Mortuary PracticeSectionHow the people of ancient Cyprus buried and remembered their dead, from graves beneath Neolithic houses to rock-cut chamber tombs and Iron Age royal tombs.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-Geometric
Daily Life
4 entriesSection overview
Clay ModelsFreestanding miniature models of buildings, cult places, work scenes, boats, vehicles and furniture made in Cyprus from the Chalcolithic to the Cypro-Archaic period.ChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Furniture in Ancient CyprusHow Cypriots sat, slept and stored goods from the Neolithic to the Archaic kingdoms, known almost entirely from built benches, clay models, seals and royal tombs.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-Archaic
Mirrors, Combs and Toilet ObjectsGrooming tools from ancient Cyprus, from Bronze Age razors, tweezers and pins to Late Cypriot mirrors and combs and the strigils of the Archaic to Roman periods.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenisticRoman- Population and Demography in Ancient CyprusThe methods and published estimates for how many people lived in ancient Cyprus, from Neolithic Khirokitia to the Classical kingdoms, where every figure is a model.NeolithicChalcolithicMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Chronology
3 entriesSection overview
Chalcolithic CyprusThe period c. 3900–2500 BCE of circular villages, Red-on-White pottery, picrolite cruciform figures and the island's first small-scale copper working.Chalcolithic
Early Bronze Age CyprusThe period c. 2500–1950 BCE, from the Philia phase through Early Cypriot I–III, of rectilinear villages, Red Polished pottery and chamber-tomb cemeteries.Early Bronze Age- Cypro-Geometric CyprusThe 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.Cypro-Geometric
Materials
1 entrySection overview
