Cyprus

The foundations for research on archaeological human remains were laid relatively early in Cyprus (see, e.g., Virchow 1884), but the development of systematic, problem oriented research on the remains of Cypriot archaeological populations, as well as educational provisions and institutional infrastructures for physical anthropology and human bioarchaeology in Cyprus, are still in their infancy. In addition to focusing on relevant legislation and practice, this chapter outlines some key

historical developments as to physical anthropology in Cyprus, highlights some recent developments in cutting edge research, and draws attention to the importance of local human resources and infrastructure (including equipment, instrumentation and reference collections) to the future development of physical anthropology and human bioarchaeology in Cyprus. This chapter focuses on archaeological human remains and does not include the legislation

and practice regarding forensic work in Cyprus. For the purposes of this chapter, archaeological human remains are defined as any human remains that date before 1850 AD (see below, and the Antiquities Law of Cyprus). The oldest human remains discovered to date in Cyprus derive from the so called Cypro-PPNB period (c. 9900-7000 BC). Further information relevant to forensic anthropology in Cyprus can be found on the Committee of Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) webpage (CMP 2010), or by referring to the CMP Terms of Reference (1981) and the CMP Fact Sheet (2009). Research on archaeological human remains has a relatively long history in Cyprus. Cypriot

human skeletal remains first appear in scientific treatises as early as the 19th century (e.g., Virchow 1884), and the early part of the 20th century saw the publication of several treatises and reports focusing exclusively on Cypriot human remains, as well as some further comparative work (e.g., Buxton 1920a, 1920b, 1931; Fürst 1933; Guest 1936; Schaeffer 1935; Rix 1938; Rix and Buxton 1938). The majority of this early work had a tendency to focus exclusively on the human skull, in keeping with the research history of the discipline in general. After the Second World War, physical anthropological research activity on the island resumed, and J.L. Angel, R.-P. Charles and other scholars analysed and published several Cypriot human skeletal series during the mid-20th century (Angel 1953, 1955, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1967,

1969a, 1969b; Axmacher and Hjortsjö 1959; Charles 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967; Hjortsjö 1947; Kurth 1958; Rix 1950). During the 1970s some of these already established physical anthropologists continued their research activity on Cypriot skeletal series (see, e.g., Angel 1972a, 1972b, 1978; Charles 1970), and are joined by a number of new researchers (Longmore 1975; Schulte-Campbell 1979; Schwartz 1974; Walker 1975). During the 1980s the number of researchers analysing Cypriot skeletal series increased further (Domurad 1985, 1986a, 1986b, 1987a, 1987b, 1988; Cadogan and Domurad 1985; Downs 1982; Fischer 1986; Fischer and Norén 1988; Galloway 1985; Moyer 1984, 1985, 1989; Musgrave and Evans 1980; Schulte-Campbell 1983, 1986; Soliveres 1981), and a few of these scholars focused specifically on human dentition (Fischer and Norén 1988; Lunt 1980, 1985, 1989; Nyqvist 1980; Taramides 1983). While palaeopathological analyses of Cypriot skeletal series can be said to have begun with Angel’s focus on porotic hyperostosis (Angel 1966, 1967, 1978), and continued with notes on dental palaeopathology in the 1980s (see, e.g., Lunt 1980, 1985, 1989), it is not until the 1990s that systematic problem oriented studies of postcranial palaeopathology in Cyprus begin to appear (Agelarakis 1997; Fox-Leonard 1997), together with reports on specific skeletal series (Agelarakis et al. 1998; Domurad 1992; Fessas 1990; Fox 1996, 1997; Herscher and Fox 1994; Le Mort 1994, 1995; Lunt 1994, 1995; Lunt and Watt 1998; Moyer 1997). While the necessary, detailed reporting on specific human skeletal series continues during the first decade of the 21st century (Crewe et al. 2005; Fox 2001, 2003a, 2003b, 2003c, 2006, 2007; Harper 2002; Lorentz 2001, 2004a, 2006a, 2007a, 2009a, 2009b, in press a; Lunt 2006; Lunt and Watt 2003; Moyer 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007; Parks et al. 2000, 2001; Parras 2006a; Schulte-Campbell 2003; Tucker and Clegget 2007), the new millennium sees the publication of further problem oriented and comparative studies on a variety of topics (Baker et al. 2007; Fox 2005; Harper, in press; Le Mort 2000, 2007, 2008; Lorentz 2002, 2003a, 2003b, 2006b, 2007b, 2009a, in press b, in press c; Parras 2004, 2006b), theoretically informed human bioarchaeology (Lorentz 2004b, 2005, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c, in press d) including anthropologie de terrain (Lorentz, in press d), syntheses (Harper 2008; Harper and Fox 2008), and studies employing state-of-the art scientific methodologies and techniques such as palaeoparasitology (Harter-Lailheugue et al. 2005) and strontium isotope analyses for investigating residential mobility (Lorentz et al., forthcoming).