Major changes mark the transition from thr Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age in mid-third millennium Cyprus. Philia material has long been recognized as a crucial element in this transition, but analysis has ben hampered by pathcy discovery and reporting and the lack of strafied deposits. Pottery and other finds from recent excavations at Marki-Alonia provide the basis for a substantial reassessment of the Philia facies and its chronological and cultural relationship tp both Chalcolitic and Bronze Age material. An explanatory model is development of distinct, identifiable Philia cultural system; the acculturation of the both migrant and indigenous populations; and the subsequent evolution of the widespread culture of the Early Cypriot Bronze Age