What archaeologists found in a rich city of the 13th century BC. e.

Kalavasos is famous for the Neolithic settlement discovered here, known as Tenta. However, another important settlement adjoins it from the south - a certain large city of the 13th century BC. e.

This ancient colony dates from the mid-14th to the mid-13th centuries BC. e. It was discovered by archaeologists in 1978. However, due to the construction of the highway, the discovered finds had to be recorded and buried back.

This part of the settlement contained large houses made of hewn limestone. Archaeologists were lucky: similar houses were discovered to the north and south of the highway after the initial finds were buried back.

The largest and most important of the identified objects is located in the northeastern sector of the settlement. It covers an area of ​​about 1000 square meters and consists of a large courtyard surrounded by corridors and rooms on the north and south sides. In the eastern part of the building there are many small rooms of the same type, and on its western side there is only one large hall measuring 19x7.5 meters and a series of six monolithic supports.

In this room, several clay storage vessels were found, placed on special stone stands fixed to the floor. The entire building was constructed of stone and cut limestone and probably constituted one of the main public administrative areas of the settlement.

Both this building and other architectural monuments of the settlement date back to 1325-1225 BC. They testify to the significant economic and cultural development of the area of ​​modern Kalavasos during the Cypriot-Mycenaean period.

A rich burial site was discovered near the western wall of this imposing public building. The skeletons of three young women, a child aged 4-8 and two infants were found in an intact carved tomb carved into limestone rock.

Funeral accessories that accompanied the deceased included gold bracelets, necklaces and rings weighing a total of 432 grams. Also found in the tomb were silver jewelry, objects made of faience, alabaster and glass, elegant Mycenaean vases with elaborate decorations in the form of dolphins and various geometric patterns. This find became the largest treasure trove of valuable objects discovered by archaeologists in Cyprus.

This very rich tomb is 50-70 years older than the settlement itself and belongs to the cemetery of an even older neighboring settlement, which has not yet been identified.

Excavations continued to the northwest of the large public building. A second large storage room was discovered with rows of large pithoi (clay pots). It was estimated that the storage capacity was about 50,000 liters. No traces of seeds were found, so the storage vessels appear to have contained liquid products such as wine or oil.

To the west of the large building was a narrow street and another large building. A large rectangular stone tank was discovered in this building. Judging by these and other ruins, it was a complex used to produce some kind of liquid, perhaps an olive press.

On the eastern side of the large public building, archaeologists found a large wall and culvert, and behind it an open space separating official buildings from residential buildings. To the southeast was discovered part of a large house, or perhaps a building, used for manufacturing.

A large number of ancient objects (small jars, stone weights, hand mills and other stone tools, as well as bronze objects) were found in the area.

To the south of the large public building, and very close to it, another important official building, built of cut stones, was discovered in 1990. Among the finds of the 1990s are elegant bronze objects, a vase, a carved stone seal with the image of a bull, a faience scarab, and a vessel with an unusual painting.

It was probably the site of a fairly important city in the 13th century BC, a century that was marked by high production, processing and trade in copper and the rather complex administration that required the existence of such large buildings.

Location on the map: part of the settlement north of the highway and south of the highway

The text was prepared based on materials from “Polygnosi” 

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