Abstract

This study presents evidence for the cultic signifi cance of aniconic stones in ancient Cyprus from the Ceramic Neolithic through Roman eras. Interpretive models of the Near East and Aegean, which frame such stones as territory or liminal markers, mnemonic devices and aniconic cult objects, are tested against the Cypriot evidence. It is argued that while intrusions from the Aegean and Levant infl uence the use of stones in Cypriot cult, particularly from the Iron Age, the use of aniconic stones in cultic contexts originates as an autochthonous phenomenon from as early as the Ceramic Neolithic in Cyprus.