A century of international cyprological research.

Brodie, Neil

PAUL ASTROM. A century of international cyprological research. 47 pages, 8 plates. 2000. Nicosia: Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation; 9963-42-088-5 paperback.

Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology (SIMA) have a penchant for Cyprus, no doubt because of the fundamental contribution made to the archaeology of that island during the 1920s and 1930s by the Swedish Cyprus expedition. The story of the expedition is recounted in A century of international Cyprological research -- the first in a rash of SIMA publications which provide a short but readable history of Cypriot archaeology. Whether the 19th-century diggings of the Cesnolas and their ilk should qualify as research is hard to say but their inclusion is welcome nevertheless.

The SIMA `pocket-book', Ritual architecture, iconography and practice, is a substantially revised version of the author's doctoral dissertation. It develops a `polythetic contextual' methodology for the recognition of cult practice, which is then applied in a comprehensive study of the material remains of Late Bronze Age Cyprus. The systematic examination of architecture, artefacts and iconography is situated within the on-going debate over Cypriot state formation, and the author concludes that her study offers support for the thesis that a single, island-wide state first appeared during the 16th century BC, with Enkomi as its paramount centre.