Insularity as a Modifier of Culture Change: The Case of Prehistoric Cyprus

Borrowing a concept from biology, this article uses Cyprus as an island laboratory of culture-evolutionary change in the Eastern Mediterranean during the fourth to second millennia cal B. C. E. The slow rise of social complexity compared with the mainland is attributed to a combination of internal and external constraints imposed by resource limitations and geographic isolation. Moreover, Cyprus exemplifies the difficulty of expanding prehistoric interaction spheres to oceanic islands.