Early Occupants of Cyprus: Coastal Arrivals and Inland Explorations
Lisa Maher, University of California, Berkeley
Epipalaeolithic (c. 10-20 kya) hunters-gatherers in Southwest Asia experimented with plant and animal management and developed long-ranging, complex networks of exchange and movement, but little remains known of this period in Cyprus. The Ancient Seafaring Explorers of Cyprus Project (ASEC) extends the broader understanding of Epipalaeolithic wayfinding, placemaking, and technological use among the earliest occupants of the island. Geoarchaeological evidence suggests that both coastal and inland locations were extensively used by these hunter-gatherer groups, although much remains elusive about movements between these regions. Taking a landscape learning approach, I present new Epipalaeolithic occupations in Cyprus, contextualized within an ever-growing inventory of hunter-gatherer sites and palaeo-coastline data, that contribute to our broader understanding of landscape use and movement of these groups during the initial phases of occupation and exploration of Cyprus.
Bio: Lisa Maher is an Associate Professor in Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. With a focus on prehistoric archaeology and geoarchaeological approaches to reconstructing human-landscape interactions, her research explores the ‘life-history of place’ and how landscapes are created through people’s relationships with each other, the environment, and the material world. She has been directing archaeological projects in Jordan for twenty five years and worked in many other countries throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and North America.