The Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works announces the end of the excavation period 2022 at the site Pampoula in Larnaca (ancient Kition), by the French archaeological mission.
The French mission conducted this year's investigations at Kition-Pampoula for a period of four weeks in October 2022. The surveys had two objectives: first, to complete the excavation of a possible deposit (pit) identified and partially excavated in 2021 which contained a number of Phoenician Classical period sherds and second, to extend the excavation to the Classical period floors in order to better examine the context of the pit.
During the investigations three trenches were excavated in Section 11 in the north-western part of the site (fig. 1). In the central section, located to the south of the pit, a thick layer consisting of red soil of decomposed bricks mixed with various materials such as mortar and plaster slabs was removed, probably from an adjacent demolished building. The material dates to the Cypro-Classical period and the layer reveals an extensive episode of backfilling, which would have taken place between the late Classical and early Hellenistic periods. This thick layer had sealed another, which followed the slope of the land to the south (fig.2). This layer contained fragments of plaster, plaster amphora stoppers, pottery fragments (mainly from commercial amphorae and from basins), and objects in second use (bases with holes, fragments filled with plaster, etc.). The putative 'deposit' containing sherds formed part of this layer and had a more grey and sandy texture. Other shells were found, which by the end of this year's surveys totalled 99 in number (fig.[/B][/B]3). These sherds are similar to those found during the 2021 surveys: they are short texts written in black ink on ceramic sherds and, more rarely, on stone fragments. They retain the same word order and include numbers, suggesting economic transactions. All the sherds date back to the Classical period, specifically to the 4th century BC.
The above findings have led the excavators to important conclusions. In particular, they are now in a position to understand the circumstances and character of this particular deposit of sherds: it appears that they were not discarded in a pit as previously thought, nor were they used as building material for the construction of floors (as in the case of ancient Idalion). These sherds appear to have been part of a cone-shaped accumulation of material dumped in an open space following a disaster or a phase of site clearance. But what was the original context of the objects? As has been highlighted above, the sherds were found in a sandy archaeological layer. Their surface is highly eroded, as if they were submerged in seawater (fig. 4). It can therefore be calculated that the accumulation of material was created as a result of dredging in the basin of the nearby harbour. Another scenario is also possible: tiny pieces of crystalline composition were also found in the layer, while the material in general seems to have originated from the activity of craftsmen/artisans. The corrosion observed on the shells may therefore be the result of the use of aluminium salts. We know that these salts were used in antiquity, particularly in the textile industry.
It is expected that the excavation of this layer will be completed during the next excavation period, so that the above hypothesis can be further tested.
All images: © Mission archéologique de Kition
Fig. 1. General view of section 11 (A. Rabot).
Fig. 1. 2. Detail of the lower layer with the ceramic sherds in place.
Fig. 3. Oyster shell with Phoenician inscription.
Fig. 4. Prochoscene with eroded surface
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