Exploring local and regional dynamics in the Bronze Age Kythera Island, Greece, through an analytical approach on archaeological data from Kataphygadi cave

• Evidence that beekeeping and Beeswax by-products are present in the Island of Kythera since the 3rd millenia BCE. • Evidence of the importance of beeswax related products for cults and mortuary practices. • Evidence of continuous production of local pottery in Kythera throughout the Bronze Age. • Strontium and Oxygen data from Bronze Age skeletal remains from Kataphygadi cave. Interactions between islands and mainland has long been the subject of numerous archaeological projects in the Mediterranean and beyond. The island of Kythera in Greece has been a focal point for such studies over the last century. This paper re-visits Kythera and presents an analytical study on pottery and skeletal assemblages from the Kataphygadi cave excavations in the central west Kythera, in order to further explore insular dynamics and long-range interactions in the area, during the Bronze Age. The range of analyses, from organic residue and petrography to archaeological isotopes, employed to identify the role of the cave and the island in the Bronze networks, can be a pilot study for similar research questions on the role of cave sites in insular environments. Outcomes present a more diverse picture of interactions and regional dynamics than previously thought, with local traditions surviving long into the later Bronze Age and amalgamating with practices and material culture arriving from both the mainland and Crete.