<<The>> rural landscapes of archaic Cyprus an archaeology of environmental and social change

The ninth to the fifth centuries BCE saw a series of significant historical transformations across Cyprus, especially in the growth of towns and in developments in the countryside. In this book, Catherine Kearns argues that changing patterns of urban and rural sedentism drove social changes as diverse communities cultivated new landscape practices. Climatic changes fostered uneven relationships between people, resources like land, copper, and wood, and increasingly important places like rural sanctuaries and cemeteries. Bringing together a range of archaeological, textual, and scientific evidence, the book examines landscapes, environmental history, and rural practices to argue for their collective instrumentality in the processes driving Iron Age political formations. It suggests how rural households managed the countryside, interacted with the remains of earlier generations, and created gathering spaces alongside the development of urban authorities. Offering new insights into landscape archaeologies, Dr Kearns contributes to current debates about society's relationships with changing environments. Cover Half-title page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents List of Figures List of Tables Preface 1 Introduction Unruly Landscapes Town and Country on Iron Age Cyprus A Map On Chronology Part I On Environs 2 Reassessing the “Land” of Landscape: Environments, Climates, Weathering Introduction Archaeologies of Landscape Environments, Climates, Histories Weathered Landscapes Conclusions 3 Unruly Landscapes: Rural Resources, Territory, Time Introduction Consuming Landscapes Territory and the Messy Chora Unruly Time Conclusions Part II On the Rural 4 Pulses in an Electromagnetic Field: First-Millennium bce Environmental and Social Change Collapse and Regeneration An Environmental History of the Early First-Millennium BCE Surveying Landscapes of Before and After Conclusions 5 Beyond Amathus: South-Central Cyprus in Context Introduction Emergent Settlements Mortuary and Ritual Landscapes A South-Central Small World? Conclusions 6 Gypsum, Copper, Soil: Archaic Countrysides Introduction Gypsum Copper and Trees Soil and Water Conclusions 7 Conclusions: Becoming Rural Relational Countrysides Unruly Anthropocenes Appendix: List of Survey Sites in the Vasilikos and Maroni Valleys Notes Preface 1 Introduction 2 Reassessing the “Land” of Landscape 3 Unruly Landscapes 4 Pulses in an Electromagnetic Field 5 Beyond Amathus 6 Gypsum, Copper, Soil 7 Conclusions Appendix References Index "Using various archaeological, environmental, and historical data, this book argues that changes in landscapes, climate, and rural practices were instrumental to Iron Age political formations on Cyprus. It offers new insights into landscape archaeologies and contributes to current debates about society's relationships with changing environments"--Provided by publisher