Abstract

This volume honours the very significant contribution to Cypriot archaeology made by Alison South, whose excavations at Kalavasos Ayios Dhimitrios have revealed textbook evidence for complex society in the latter half of the Late Bronze Age. Contributions from an international group of scholars focus primarily on the Late Bronze Age but include chapters on the Chalcolithic, the earlier Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Kalavasos Ayios Dhimitrios provides the inspiration for a number of chapters which explore the size and structure of this major urban settlement and its wider region and assess the agricultural base which supported both its elite and non-elite population. Other chapters present new evidence from old and current excavation and survey projects, with a focus both on mortuary and settlement data, and examine the agrarian foundation of regional control structures—providing fresh insights into how elites acquire control over human and material resources and how individuals come to cede their own power to organise to those with power over organisations. The volume will be of interest to scholars concerned with the emergence of wealth, status and gender inequality and the growth of complex socio-economic and political configurations in the ancient world.