5 • Interaction Period 3: Contacts Between the Aegean and Cyprus From Ca 1450 to Ca 1300 BC

The review of Cypro-Aegean synchronisms presented in the first part of this chapter shows that, generally speaking, Interaction Period 3 corresponds to the Minoan Monopalatial period (Late Minoan II-Late Minoan IIIA2 early) and the early Mycenaean Palatial Period (Late Helladic IIB-Late Helladic IIIA2) on the Greek mainland and the second urban phase on Cyprus (Late Cypriot IIA-Late Cypriot IIC early). All the evidence discussed in the following part of the chapter makes it clear that in Interaction Period 3 mainland Greece played an increasingly important role in contacts with Cyprus due to the changes in the historical scenery, specifically the development of Mycenaean power in the Aegean. This particularly appears from the Cypriot perspective because the contrast between the relative scarcity of Cypriot imports to mainland Greece and the tremendous quantity of Mycenaean pottery (especially dating to Late Helladic IIIA2) exported to Cyprus in this period is striking. It is also worth emphasizing that Neutron Activation Analysis of ceramics also confirms that in this period a special relationship existed between the Argolid and Cyprus.