Prolegomena to Late Cypriot Weight Metrology

The systems of weight measurement used in prehistoric Cyprus have never been studied comprehensively. The group of artifacts here examined consists of several dozen Late Bronze Age stone balance weights from Enkomi, Ayia Irini, Idalion and the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck which share a characteristic "sphendonoid" (i.e., sling bullet) shape. It is shown, using simple statistical procedures, that one system, decimal in structure, is represented in these objects. This system was used throughout the eastern Mediterranean area during the late second millennium B. C., and appears to have been of Egyptian origin.