Ashmolean Museum: AMULET: Cypriot Copper 3

		Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology
		AMULETs
		Ancient Cyprus in the Ashmolean Museum

Cypriot Copper: Mysteries of the Bronze Age

When was the Bronze Age?
A simplified Chronology of the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean

Map of the Eastern Mediterranean Because it is very difficult to assign 'real' dates to the Bronze Age, it is customary to divide these periods into relative phases described as Early, Middle and Late. These periods have been assigned a date range, and objects are then assigned to one of the periods.

This chart shows the Bronze Age date ranges for Cyprus and some surrounding regions.

Date Range B.C.*	*Cyprus*	*Mycenaean Greece*	*Crete*	*Egypt*
*c.3000-2100*	Early Cypriot [ECI, II, III]	Early Helladic [EHI, II, III]	Early Minoan [EMI, II, III]	Dynasty V, VI First Intermediate Period
*c.2100-1600*	Middle Cypriot [MCI, II, III]	Middle Helladic [MHI, II, III]	Middle Minoan [MMI, II, III]	*Dynasty XI, XII, XIII*
*c.1600-1100*	Late Cypriot [LCI, II, III]	Late Helladic [LHI, II, III]	Late Minoan [LMI, II, III]	*Dynasty XV, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX*
*The Term B.C. (‘Before Christ’) is part of the conventional system of conceptualising time for the ancient world. The system is based on the Christian practice of referring to a timescale which counts years before and after the accepted date for the birth of Christ in the year A.D. 1 (‘Anno Domini’, which is Latin for “In the year of our Lord). Years B.C. are the years before this fixed date, and years A.D. are those after it. Other religions have different calendars, and the alternative terms of B.C. or B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. or I.C.E. (In the Common Era) can also be used.

	Previous Page (What is Bronze?)	Introduction to the Mysteries of the Bronze Age	Next Page (Copper in Bronze Age Cyprus)
	Ancient Cyprus in the Ashmolean

© Copyright University of Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 2004
The Ashmolean Museum retains the copyright of all materials
used here and in its Museum Web pages.
Last updated: 21-oct-2004