The last phase of the Middle Bronze Age on Cyprus (c. 1750–1650 BC) saw a number of dramatic changes, both in settlement patterns and structure, with many sites abandoned and new sites founded near the coast. At the exceptional long-lived coastal Bronze Age site of Kissonerga-Skalia near Paphos, a settlement established at the transition to the Early Bronze Age (c. 2400 BC), the site was completely restructured during this time and earlier domestic buildings were built over with an industrial architectural array installed in their place. This was only occupied for one or two generations before Kissonerga-Skalia was abandoned for good. Ongoing excavations are revealing a number of large pyrotechnical features and associated finds within this ‘monumental’ complex dating to the transition from the Middle–Late Bronze Age, a period during which we see the first moves towards urbanism
and the integration of Cyprus into eastern Mediterranean trading networks. One of these features, contained within a finely built courtyard, has been interpreted as a ‘drying kiln’ used in the production of beer. The function of the others remains ambiguous, but they may have been used for production of an organic compound or for cooking communally. This lecture will explore how we can interpret this evidence for large-scale production and construction and consider how these features may relate to the desire of all or part of the community at Kissonerga-Skalia to take part in wider Mediterranean social interactions and trade.