Exploring Aredhiou: New Light on the Rural Communities of the Cypriot Hinterland During the Late Bronze Age

This article explores social practices and the material world at Aredhiou Vouppes, a Late Bronze Age rural community in the Cypriot hinterland. In-depth analysis of the excavation results demonstrates that this site was more complex than current typologies of inland production centers, based mainly on survey data, would suggest. Instead, it was multifunctional and played an important economic role within the wider Cypriot landscape. This article addresses the evidence for initial occupation at Aredhiou during Middle Cypriot III Late Cypriot (LC) I, but the main focus is on the substantial LC IIC remains. Through a detailed contextual analysis and the identification of a multiplicity of activities practiced at the site, I examine social practice, gender relations, and ritual performance within a small farming community.(1)