A new study of elite Bronze Age tombs in Cyprus has identified nine gold diadems, including one found in its original position across the forehead of a four- or five-year-old child.
The ornaments came from the cemetery of Hala Sultan Tekke, an important ancient port near modern Larnaca. Dating from between the 15th and 13th centuries BCE, they combine imagery associated with Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East while retaining a distinctive Cypriot style.
Gold diadem remained on the child’s forehead
The child was buried in Chamber Tomb RR, a multi-generational tomb containing the remains of at least 34 people.
The skeleton was found in the tomb’s earliest layer, dated to around 1350 BCE. Although the remains were poorly preserved, the body was still articulated and the long gold band remained positioned across the forehead.
The child had also been buried with a necklace made from 68 gold beads and four gold earrings placed near the skull. Other grave goods included a silver pendant depicting an Anatolian deity, a spiral-decorated silver ring and a carved cylinder seal.
The wealth of the burial suggests that high social status at Hala Sultan Tekke may have been inherited through family connections rather than acquired only in adulthood.
The position of the ornament also provides direct archaeological evidence that the longer gold bands were worn across the forehead. Other examples had been found beside skulls, making their original use less certain.
Diadems were worn by different age groups
Researchers distinguished the nine diadems from two smaller gold mouth coverings.
The diadems were made from long sheets of gold with holes at both ends, allowing them to be tied around the head. Wear marks on some of the heavier examples indicate that they may have been used during ceremonies before being placed in tombs.
The smaller and lighter bands show less evidence of wear and may have been produced specifically for burial. The two plain mouth coverings appear to have been funerary objects placed directly over the lips of the dead.
The ornaments were associated with men, women, a possible teenage girl and the young child. Their use was therefore not limited to one gender or age group.
Bull heads joined Egyptian and Aegean traditions
The largest diadem measures 34.2 centimeters and was found in Chamber Tomb XX with a woman aged between 35 and 40.
Its decoration includes seven frontal bull heads with disk-like forms between their horns. Striped elements beside the animals resemble Egyptian hairstyles or wigs.
The bulls are surrounded by palm designs and eight-petalled rosettes comparable to motifs found on Mycenaean pottery and in elite graves in Greece.
Another example, known as the Ibex-feline diadem, is the heaviest in the collection at 23.14 grams. It depicts running ibexes, rosettes and feline heads, possibly lions, at both ends.
Because lions were not native to Cyprus, the motif points to artistic contacts with Egypt, Greece or the Near East.
Cypriot craftspeople probably made the ornaments
Despite these foreign influences, the study argues that the diadems were probably produced in Cyprus rather than imported as finished objects.
Craftspeople decorated the thin gold sheets by pressing them against carved matrices, likely made from stone, bronze or bone. Differences between similar motifs suggest that several matrices were used, possibly by different workshops.
No matching moulds have yet been found at Hala Sultan Tekke. Fragments of gold sheet have been recovered from the settlement, but the workshop where the diadems were made remains unidentified.
The source of the gold is also unknown. Possible origins include recycled objects, Nubia or the Bronze Age gold mine at Ada Tepe in present-day Bulgaria. Further chemical analysis will be needed to test these possibilities.
A port connected to distant regions
Hala Sultan Tekke flourished between approximately 1630 and 1150 BCE, when the modern Larnaca Salt Lake formed a sheltered harbor connected to the Mediterranean.
The settlement covered at least 25 hectares and supported copper working, pottery production and purple-dyed textile manufacture.
Imported pottery, Egyptian glass, Anatolian ceramics and Mesopotamian seals show that the city was part of a wide trading network. Materials such as lapis lazuli from Afghanistan and amber from the Baltic also reached the port.
The diadems emerged from this connected environment. Cypriot craftspeople did not copy a single foreign tradition but combined motifs from several regions to create jewelry with a local identity.
The study by archaeologist Peter M. Fischer was published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology.
Fischer, P. M. (2026) CULTURAL FUSION IN LATE BRONZE AGE GOLDWORK: DIADEMS AND MOUTH-PIECES FROM HALA SULTAN TEKKE, CYPRUS. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 45: 151–179. https://doi.org/10.1111/ojoa.70012.
Cover Image: A Late Bronze Age gold diadem from Hala Sultan Tekke in Cyprus, decorated with bull heads, rosettes and floral motifs. Credit: Fischer, P. M. (2026)