"Monumentality and Social Transformation at Late Bronze I Phlamoudhi-Vounari, Cyprus" by Mara T. Horowitz

Mara T. Horowitz

Deposited 2007

Abstract
This thesis examines the concepts of cultural, economic, and political regionalism and the diverse paths to the inception of political inequality in the Cypriot Bronze Age by re-examining the site of Phlamoudhi- Vounari with a specific focus on its use and function within the context of the Late Cypriot I period (LCI: c.1650-1450 BC). The LCI was a period of dynamic growth and development throughout Cyprus, yet it remains understudied due to a dearth of excavated and published sites.

With its small size (<1ha), isolated location, and monumental architecture, Vounari has been variously identified as a rural sanctuary or isolated fort since its excavation (1970-1973). However, this comprehensive restudy has revealed that the site was a man-made monument used for exchange, storage, and food consumption, which are interpreted here as ceremonially mediated economic and political activities acted out on a monumental public space. The site was a forum for multiple types of exchange, both reciprocal and unequal, and is thus a vital component in identifying and understanding the first appearance of economic and political inequality on Cyprus.

This project examines not only the site of Vounari but also its immediate and regional surroundings, and a clearer picture of the social and economic systems of the LCI is now emerging. It is now possible to synthesize this information in an argument for a system of local pre-chiefdoms and wider regional social networks on Cyprus at this time. The site of Vounari also reveals the lack of evidence for a system of state-level control in the LCI. The impetus for the site's construction appears to have been entirely the initiative of a local community, which featured kinship lineages as the cornerstone of social organization. Vounari was later embellished and fitted with multiple layers of restricted access by the emergence of competitive local elites. This process preceded the emergence of true chiefdoms on Cyprus.