Cypriot connections through the Middle to Late Bronze Age transition in the Western Galilee

The transition from imported Middle Cypriot to Late Cypriot ceramic types in the southern Levant is a long studied phenomenon. Excavations at Tel Achziv from 1963 to 1964, directed by Moshe Prausnitz, uncovered a previously unpublished Cypriot assemblage. This assemblage is chronologically dated between MB III to LB I (ca. 1650–1400 BCE) and consists of 88 sherds, including White Painted, Red on Red/Red on Black, Bichrome, Base Ring, and White Slip ware. This paper analyses the role of Tel Achziv in the importation of Cypriot ceramics and attempts to understand the social processes and networks which contributed to the importation of Cypriot material in the Western Galilee during the Middle to Late Bronze Age transition.