Abstract

This volume is the long-overdue final study and publication of 19 Early Iron Age (Cypro-Geometric) tombs excavated in 1931 in the so-called Upper Geometric cemetery at Lapithos on the north coast of Cyprus under the direction of Bert Hodge Hill on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. In accordance with early post-excavation practices, most of the material from this cemetery left the island soon after its excavation. For a number of reasons, the excavations were never published and the material remained for the most part unknown. Diakou’s volume, the outcome of a doctoral dissertation at Bryn Mawr College, is based on a thorough study of the field notebooks and accompanying photographs and drawings. It includes a fully illustrated description of each tomb and its contents, as well as a chapter on landscape and topography, a typological study of the pottery and small finds and a detailed analysis of mortuary practices at the site.