Recent excavations at a small Chalcolithic site in central Cyprus show that it was occupied about 2880–2670 cal BC. Fallow deer form the major component of the substantial faunal sample: both these and other animals were hunted. The chipped stone, too, fits with a model of intensive meat exploitation. The lack of formal architecture supports the general model of a seasonally or intermittently used hunters' village. Plant remains and a limited array of ground stone tools, however, indicate that domesticated plants were processed and consumed, although probably not harvested at the site, while large quantities of pottery also show a wider range of activities. These data and observations can be explained by several models, which emphasise either broad processes and historical developments or more local patterns of varied site-types and activities in different parts of the island or in different ecological zones, providing an important insight into the diversity and complexity of cultural systems in the early 3rd millennium BC.