Rich finds at Bronze Age settlement (Cyprus)

Rich finds at Bronze Age settlement (Cyprus)

EXCAVATIONS of the late Bronze Age settlement at Dromolaxia Vizatzia (Hala Sultan Tekke) have unearthed a rich array of imported and local bronze and pottery artefacts.
The finds at the ancient city which were carried out in May by the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, under the direction of Professor Peter M. Fischer, witness the central role Cyprus played during the Late Bronze Age, the Antiquities Department said in an announcement on Friday.
The ancient city was inhabited during the Late Bronze Age, which dates roughly to 1600-1100 BC. The city was once as large as 25 hectares making it one of the largest ancient cities of the period on the island.
This year's excavations exposed only 10m times 10m of the site, with nine rooms exposed so far. The city was built in two phases: one in the 13th/12th century BC and the other some hundreds years earlier.
The finds from the partly exposed complex include locally produced and imported pottery and objects of bronze, bone and stone. Dominating amongst the imported pottery are vessels from the Aegean region, mainly from the Greek mainland. There are also imports from the Levant and Egypt.
The imports from the Levant include so called Canaanite jars. These jars were of considerable size - 100 litres are not uncommon - and once contained oil and wine. Imports from Anatolia were also found. The large variety of finds provides evidence of the functions of these rooms, namely, pottery production, metal melting, food preparation, storage and administration.
Sophisticated equipment was used by the expedition and included an advanced GPS device for the exact location of the area of excavation.
Others were several electro-magnetic detectors, a laser-based measuring device and geo-radar. The radar results demonstrated the outlines of a large compound, at least 30m times 30m in size, buried deep under the surface. Air photographs of the excavated building were also taken by the local helicopter-based police.
Cypriot pottery, which was used as fine table ware, was exported to cultures all over the Mediterranean including today's Greece, Italy, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian authority, Egypt, and as far as today's Iraq.

Fuente: Cyprus Mail: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/rich-finds-bronze-age-settlement/20100704