Glossary Archaeological method and dating
Period subphases
Codes such as MC III, LC IIC or CA II that divide each Cypriot period into numbered phases and lettered subphases for finer dating.
Each major period is abbreviated (EC, MC and LC for Early, Middle and Late Cypriot; CG, CA and CC for Cypro-Geometric, Cypro-Archaic and Cypro-Classical) and split into phases with Roman numerals. Busier periods are subdivided again with letters, so Late Cypriot II runs through IIA, IIB and IIC. LC IIC covers most of the thirteenth century BCE, and the move from LC IIC to LC IIIA marks the upheavals around 1200 BCE.
The phases are relative units, defined by pottery and deposits, and their calendar dates are revised as new evidence arrives. The Iron Age phases follow the pottery Types of Gjerstad's Swedish Cyprus Expedition scheme, and the Bronze Age phases go back to the same tradition as refined by Paul Åström and others. Dates for each period are given in The Chronology of Ancient Cyprus.
Full entry: The Chronology of Ancient Cyprus
Related terms
- Relative chronology
An ordering of sites, layers or objects as earlier or later than one another, without fixing them to calendar years.
- Seriation
A relative dating method that arranges groups of finds in sequence according to how the popularity of their types rises and falls.
- Absolute chronology
A chronology expressed in calendar years (BCE, CE or years before present), fixed by scientific dating or by links to written history.
Where it appears
- Proto-White Painted Ware
- Plain White Ware
- White Painted Wheelmade Ware
- From Bronze to Iron: Cypriot Pottery c. 1300–950 BCE
- Late Bronze Age Cyprus
- Village Life in Middle Bronze Age Cyprus
- Middle Bronze Age Cyprus
- Village Life in Early Bronze Age Cyprus
- Gold, Silver, Tin, Arsenic and Iron in Ancient Cyprus
- Red Polished Zoomorphic Vessels and Animal Figurines
- Village Life in Late Bronze Age Cyprus
- Cypro-Archaic Cyprus
and 32 more compendium pages