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- Ελληνικά
Address: Dr Kathlyn Grossman (North Carolina State University)
The Department of Antiquities, State Ministry of Culture, announces the completion of excavations at the prehistoric site of Makunda-Voules-Mersinoudkia, northeast of Polis Chrysochous, Paphos District.
The excavation was conducted between 3 June and 10 July 2023 under the direction of Dr. Kathlyn Grossman (North Carolina State University), with funding from the National Science Foundation of the United States and in collaboration with Dr. Tate Paulette (North Carolina State University), Dr. Lisa Graham (College of Southern Nevada) and Dr. Andrew MacCarthy (College of Southern Nevada). Students from North Carolina State University and other universities in the United States participated in the excavation.
The archaeological survey of the site, conducted in 2017, identified evidence of human settlement at the site dating to the Late Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. During three consecutive excavation periods (2018, 2019 and 2022), evidence for a series of circular dwellings dating to the Chalcolithic period was uncovered, as well as fire hearths of uncertain date and mining activity. In the year 2023, the excavation focused on increasing knowledge to better understand the findings of previous years.
During the excavation period, the stone base of a circular dwelling of the Chalcolithic period was uncovered, of which approximately half of its perimeter survives. This dwelling appears to have been in use at the same time as a second circular dwelling, which was discovered nearby during previous excavation periods. In total, three circular dwellings of the Chalcolithic period have been discovered on the site, as well as a small section of wall, discovered in 2023, which may belong to a fourth dwelling. Inside all these dwellings, fragments of pottery vessels, stone tools, animal bones, materials from wall collapses and other finds were found on the floors.
The 2023 excavation period also brought to light two superimposed fire hearths, one on top of the other. While the use of the upper hearth cannot be clearly discerned, the lower hearth appears to have been used for firing pottery vessels, but would have had other uses. The fire hearths discovered date from ceramic assemblages to the Middle Bronze Age.
The excavation at the Makunda-Voules-Mersinoudkia site provides important new information about the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age on the northwestern side of the island. The 2023 excavation period continues on the findings of the previous excavation periods and at the same time raises new questions about social life in prehistoric Cyprus.
(AF/GC)
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