Abstract

This richly illustrated volume is the fourth to be published in recent years on Early and Middle Bronze Age tombs excavated at Lapithos on the north coast of Cyprus prior to 1974, bringing to conclusion an almost decade-long research project. It completes the documentation of over 60 tombs excavated in 1913, including Tomb 50 which produced over 400 objects, and contains a detailed analysis of the full recorded complement of material from tombs excavated in 1913 and 1917—in total comprising over 2500 pottery vessels, over 1100 metal artefacts, 152 spindle whorls, 24 ‘plank figures’ and other objects of terracotta, stone and faience. The publication of these tombs, after more than 100 years, has provided important new insights on the island’s internal and external connections and a mass of material for future research. While no substitute for settlement data, the mortuary evidence suggests that Lapithos acted as an attractor for economic activity within an array of intra-island networks, giving rise to significant social complexity and to individuals and groups whose wealth and status were increasingly based on differential access to local and imported metals, imported luxury goods and socio-political position.