Animal Exploitation and Community Behavior at a Middle Bronze Age Village on Cyprus

Analysis of faunal remains from the Bronze Age village of Politiko-Troullia in central Cyprus offers the opportunity to add detail to the ongoing effort to characterize societal changes during the Middle Bronze Age, prior to the emergence of Late Bronze urbanism on the island. Politiko-Troullia, located in the northern foothills of the Troodos Mountains, has a radiocarbon chronology that indicates an occupation around 2100–1900 cal BC. Sheep and goat bones dominate the faunal assemblage, with bones from Mesopotamian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica), cattle, and pigs following in de- scending frequency. Excavated architectural remains include a household compound, two large open courtyards and an adjacent alley with bone-rich trash deposits. Analysis of the bone assemblages from these spaces reveals consistencies about butchering as well as patterns of animal exploitation and consumption, which distinguish household subsistence and communal feasting behaviors. These lines of evidence can augment a developing understanding of village social identity and reflect larger patterns of social change prior to the first urbanism on Cyprus.