The foundation of Enkomi: an analysis of the stratigraphy and ceramics
Lindy Crewe, University of Edinburgh

The site of Enkomi is central to interpretations of the beginnings of the Late Bronze Age on Cyprus, often considered to be the first state-like entity on the island and identified with Alashiya in textual sources. This has been based upon the assumption that Enkomi was the earliest of the coastal centres to be established and that it rose to a pre-eminent position in the production and export of Cypriot copper resources, later to be supplanted by the rise of the other coastal towns by LCIIC. The limited exposure of the earliest architecture and incomplete publication of the material has led to debate about the date of the site's foundation. The focus of the paper will be on my recent reanalysis of the stratigraphy and ceramics from the earliest levels of occupation (MCIII-LCIIB), excavated by Dikaios in the 1940s and 50s. It is hoped that this will contribute towards an understanding of the sequences of construction and occupation at the site and illuminate both inter-island and intra-regional relationships during the early LC.