Late Bronze Age Cypriot figurines: an investigation into variation and distribution

The study of anthropomorphic Late Bronze Age Cypriot figurines (1450 – 1125 BC) traditionally centres around their association to religion, their foreign elements, and their increased standardised design in contrast to earlier figurines from the Chalcolithic to the Early and Middle Bronze Ages (2500–1650 BCE). This paper aims to focus on the individual artisans to emphasise their agency by locating unique figurine traits in order to challenge the assumption in the scholarship that these figurines are homogenous. In addition, through a detailed investigation into the distribution of figurine traits across the island, this project aims to investigate specific inter-site relationships as well as provide evidence towards the political structure of Cyprus during this period. By reconceptualizing the figurines through a post-colonial perspective, as products of hybridisation, the figurines can no longer be seen as homogenous, but rather, each figurine can be viewed as a new entity born out of a negotiation of both local and foreign stylistic traits and are thus individual. From this perspective, a database of Late Bronze Age Cypriot figurine traits in conjunction with GIS mapping has been created in order to reveal shared and unique traits and their distribution across the island. From this data, it is clear that most of the traits are shared, however, around 22% of the traits are unique which reveals individual agency and the decision to create designs outside of the more common set. Through the investigation into the distribution of shared traits, four potential specific inter-site relationships have been revealed between Enkomi and the sites of Episkopi Bamboula, Ayios Theodoros Soleas, and Dhenia Kafkalla as well as between Alambra and Ayia Paraskevi. Furthermore, this project argues that the figurine data supports the independent polity model regarding the political configuration of Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age. The findings of this project indicate that a detailed investigation into stylistic variation and distribution of traits can reveal important insights into the movements of past individuals as well as their artistic choices.