Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project: Excavations at Pyla-Vigla in 2018

Abstract

The island of Cyprus has long been characterized as a cultural crossroads of the Eastern Mediterranean, due to its multiethnic population of Greeks, Phoenicians, and Eteocypriots; its strategic location at the intersection of trade routes between Egypt, the Levant, Asia Minor, and points further west; and its resulting heterogeneous culture, as cultural groups intermingled and control of the island shifted between local groups and various imperial powers throughout its history. Scholarly attention on Cyprus has traditionally focused on the Bronze and Iron Ages, when Cyprus was largely an independent if minor player in greater Mediterranean politics. The Hellenistic period on Cyprus, lasting from the conquest of Alexander the Great to the final annexation of the island by the Roman Empire (332–31 BCE) has been chronically understudied despite being a period of political and cultural upheaval. Hellenistic material culture is poorly understood to the point that it is difficult to even identify Hellenistic sites or levels of occupation with any level of chronological specificity. This is a notable deficit.