METAL ARTEFACTS IN CHALCOLITHIC CYPRUS: NEW DATA FROM WESTERN CYPRUS

Abstract

The origins of copper-based metallurgy on the island of Cyprus, which became the main supplier of the

metal in the Late Bronze Age in the Mediterranean and whose name became associated with the metal, is

relatively obscure. While metal extraction and metal artefacts became increasingly important in the broader

Near East, early metallurgy on Cyprus remains poorly known, and it is often postulated that metals were of

limited importance on the island prior to the Philia phase. Here we present a unique context from the Late

Chalcolithic (ca. 2800-2400 BC) from the excavations at Chlorakas-Palloures that has considerable ramifica

tions for this debate.