past horizons32 After work on site was completed, the team processed the finds under the shade of the Mediaeval arches of the Manor House of Couvoucle ( Kouklia, now the Palaipaphos Archaeological Museum), situated on the ruins of the Sanctuary of Aphrodite

33past horizons Aphrodite's Ancestors: the Prastion- Mesorotsos Archaeological Expedition, Cyprus Text by Andrew P. McCarthy Images by Andrew P. McCarthy and Ben Blakeman You could be forgiven for assuming that we already know a great deal about the cult of the goddess Aphrodite, its origins in Near Eastern mythology, and the early history of the important sanctuary at Old Paphos ( modern Kouklia) in western Cyprus. Our understanding of the Late Bronze Age ( ca. 1700- 1050 BC) temple in Paphos, near the traditional location of Aphrodite's birth, comes to us from ancient textual sources as well as over two hundred years of archaeological excavation at the sanctuary itself. Indeed, we do understand much about the nature of the cult of Aphrodite in its mature form, but we have very little information on the preceding social context in which this pervasive myth began. While Early ( ca. 2400- 2000 BC) Middle ( ca. 2000- 1700 BC) and Late Bronze Age settlement sites have been excavated in Cyprus, Paphos and its hinterland are conspicuously lacking investigation of the Early and Middle Bronze Ages. Without an understanding of the social developments that led up to the urbanisation of Paphos in the Late Bronze Age, it is difficult to assess the processes that resulted in the establishment of one of the most important urban centres and best- known holy places in the ancient world. continued ? ? Map of western Cyprus. Prastion- Mesorotsos is just 15km up the Dhiarizos River from Old Paphos and the Sanctuary of Aphrodite