Sotira Kaminoudhia
Coordinates: 34 ° 42 ′ 16.6 ″ N , 32 ° 50 ′ 24.9 ″ E
Sotira Kaminoudhia is the modern name of an early Bronze Age settlement in Cyprus . The archaeological site is about 200 meters from the modern village of Sotira (not to be confused with the village of the same name in the east of the island ), 5 km from Cyprus' south coast and 15 km west of Limassol . Excavations took place in 1981, 1983, 1986 and again since 2004. Most of the early excavations are scientifically published in a monograph. So far, preliminary reports are only available for the more recent excavations. As C-14 data suggest, the site appears to have existed from around 2600 to 1950 BC. To have been settled. The early Bronze Age culture in Cyprus is also known as the Philia culture . There are only a few other excavated sites from this period. Above all, rectangular floor plans are new, while residential buildings were previously mostly round.
There are springs near the place, through which the place has repeatedly attracted settlers over the millennia until today. Remnants of architecture could be exposed in three places: Area A Area B and Area C. A small cemetery was also excavated near the settlement.
Two settlement phases (I, II) could be distinguished in area A. Various rectangular stone buildings were found here, separated by narrow streets. The house units have one, two or three rooms. Some buildings also had a forecourt. In addition to the local limestone, clay was also used as a building material. The rooms had both fire pits and garbage pits, and stone benches were found along some of the walls.
Numerous objects were found within the buildings, including many stone tools and polished ceramic vessels, spindle whorls, loom weights and a few copper objects, including jewelry, knives and needles. A large building was uncovered in Area C. In the center there is a courtyard with benches on the north and east walls. The courtyard could only be reached via a small corridor. A striking amount of ceramics was found here. The place may have had a communal function. Four structures were found in Area B. The largest of them has a courtyard with a stone basin in the middle.
The examination of the bone finds shows that mainly cattle were kept. Sheep and goat bones were also found, deer bones and pig bones are less frequently attested.
The graves unearthed in the cemetery are mostly small, round chambers dug into the ground. Remnants of bones were mostly poorly preserved, but the dead seem to have been crouched on the right side. There were mainly ceramics as additions.
literature
- Stuart Swiny, George (Rip) Rapp, Ellen Herscher (editors): Sotira Kaminoudhia, an Early Bronze Age Site in Cyprus , Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, Monograph Series, Vol. 4, Boston 2003, ISBN 0-89757-064-2 .
- Stuart Swiny: The Cyprus American Archaeological Institute Excavations at Sotira Kaminoudhia and the Origins of the Philia Culture. In: D. Papadopoullou and SA Chadzestylle (editors): Proceedings of the Ssecond International Congress of Cypriot Studies . Volume 1, Society of Cypriot Studies, Nicosia 1985, pp. 13-26.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stuart Swiny, George (Rip) Rapp, Ellen Herscher (editors): Sotira Kaminoudhia, an Early Bronze Age Site in Cyprus
- ↑ Thomas Kiely: Early and Middle Bronze Ages, c. 2500–1650 BC on British Museum
- ^ A. Bernard Knapp: The Archeology of Cyprus, From the Earliest Prehistory through the Bronze Age , Cambridge 2013, ISBN 978-0-521-72347-3 , p. 285
- ↑ Swiny, Rapp, Herscher (editor): Sotira Kaminoudhia , Fig. 2.16
- ↑ Swiny, Rapp, Herscher (editor): Sotira Kaminoudhia , Fig. 2.18
- ↑ Swiny, Herscher: The Cemetery , in Swiny, Rapp, Herscher (editor): Sotira Kaminoudhia , pp. 103–144
- ^ Knapp: The Archeology of Cyprus , p. 285
- ↑ Knapp: The Archeology of Cyprus , pp. 287-288
- ↑ Knapp: The Archeology of Cyprus , pp. 288-289
- ↑ Swiny, Herscher: The Cemetery , in Swiny, Rapp, Herscher (editor): Sotira Kaminoudhia , p. 143