An excavation in Kalavasos has wrapped up and revealed a fascinating glimpse into ancient life in Cyprus.
Focusing on the Middle Cypriot Bronze Age, the dig in the Vasilikos Valley and Laroumena took place on a 15-hectare clifftop promontory adjacent to Arkhangelos, a 35-hectare terrace site with many surface finds indicating a large settlement.
Last summer, two small trenches were excavated on a terrace on Laroumena. Multiple large drystone walls were already visible there in a section cleaned during the “Vasilikos Valley Project” survey in 1993, under the direction of Dr Ian Todd.
Both squares yielded deposits securely dated, by pottery, to the later Middle Cypriot, while other pottery in the soil dated to the late Chalcolithic, the Early and Late Bronze as well as the Iron Age.
Excavations revealed three walls forming a small room filled with thick ash and charcoal deposits. Small finds included spindle whorls, shell beads, and a stone pendant.
Pottery was of domestic character, probably related to food production. It appears toolmaking was being carried out in the immediate vicinity, judged by the very large amount of worked stone flakes and blades in both local and exotic chert.
Abundant finds of exceptionally large Red Polished Ware storage jar fragments indicate significant storage capacity. The excavation was conducted by the “Kalavasos-Laroumena and Arkhangelos Archaeological Research Project” (K-LAARP)
