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Sotira-Kaminoudhia:
Excavations in Cyprus
For the past two
summers I’ve participated on a transitional Chalcolithic/Early
Bronze Age excavation in the southwestern part of Cyprus, which
is now considered to be the “Greek half”.
Map of the divided
island
Since 1974, the island has been divided into two due to the
Turkish occupation. However, the deep integration of these two
cultures, Turkish and Greek, is apparent in the cultural and
physical elements of the cities and towns in Cyprus, like
Limassol, (not far from Sotira village), and Lefkosia, the
capital. In the latter city, one can better sense these
portentous circumstances on account of the boundary called the
“Green Line”, running right through the center of the capital.
Furthermore, in the old part of town in Lefkosia, the annual
archaeological conference of CAARI, (the Cypriot American
Archaeological Research Institute) is held in a tall, attractive
building, which offers a great view
of the city.
Looking down, one can see that the immediate area is filled with
Greek flags, whereas in the distance, the immense Turkish flag
carved into the hillside overlooks the capital city.
The excavation at
Sotira-Kaminoudhia is directed by Stuart Swiny and the assistant
director is Laina (Helena), Swiny. The team mainly consists of
Americans from SUNY (or the State University of NY) at Albany,
but also includes students from other universities in America as
well as from the University of Cyprus.
Sotira is a village
located in the county of Limassol, 4 miles, “as the crow flies”,
(Dikaios, 1961:1) NW of the beach and famous site at Curium, and
it is also not far from the British base at Episkopi. It seems
it was just as hard to locate the exit for the village now as it
was in 1934 when Dikaios, an archaeologist, located this site.
Initially Dikaios was seeking and found the Neolithic site, or
Neolithic II site of Sotira-Teppes, situated on a hilltop, (also
indicated by its name, Teppes, which comes from the Turkish word
for hill). It was after extended investigations that he
discovered the later Chalcolithic/ Bronze Age cemetery, called
Cemetery A and the site of Sotira-Kamanoudhia.
Sotira-Teppes is a
conical shaped hill, which on the summit levels into a
platform. It has a combination of irregular shaped houses, and
its characteristic pottery type is Combed Ware. It was once a
dwelling area for these Neolithic peoples, both agriculturalists
and semi-pastoralists, whose major meat source was cattle but
whose diet also included pig, sheep, and goat. Now, it is a
place where tourists go to observe the site as well as where we,
the excavators go after a long day of digging to enjoy the
panoramic view of rolling hills that meet up with the
Mediterranean sea, (as well as enjoying a beer or two!)
In 1980, Prof.
Swiny set out to the site with the information from Dikaios’s
excavations and uncovered Cemetery B, not far from A, as well as
began more intense excavations of the site, Kamanoudhia. The
combination of data collected by both cemeteries produced a
wealth of information on the transitional period. The material
mostly consisted of a widely varied pottery collection that
included a mixture of Chalco and EBA shapes. Other objects
unearthed were chipped stone and metal. Certainly, it is worth
mentioning the most important metal artifacts found: two gold
earrings, the shape of which was based on copper models, and
that happen to be the first gold ever to be excavated in Cyprus.
Plan of Area
‘A’
Based on the
excavated areas of Kamanoudhia, the site is estimated to be
about 1 hectare in size that is bordered by the outcrop of
bedrock in the east, but which is, to the southwest and
northeast, still debatable if the site extends further in these
directions. In 1980, the site was organized into three parts
that are as follows: Areas A, B, and C. Three supervisors are
chosen to be responsible for properly
excavating
each one of these areas. In each area there are about 5 to
10 students excavating and recording a particular unit within
the area where there are also about 2-4 paid laborers from the
village helping out as needed.
The excavations of the 1980’s offered much information about the
site, to which the projects in the 2000’s have contributed a
number of additional architectural and material data, which have
increased the understanding of this site and the transitional
period. Due to the nature of the remains, including coarsed
tumble in both
Areas A and B, a thick layer of ashy debris in Area C, and
compact uncoarsed tumble in all three areas, it was purposed
that this area was destroyed by an earthquake. Area A consists
of mainly houses and corridors, and is thought to be the central
habitation located on or close to the limestone bedrock. In the
later excavations the remains of both a complete skeleton on one
house floor and fragments of another scattered in three houses
were unearthed. It was suggested that they were probably killed
when the earthquake occurred, The
excavation area which
helps to support
this hypothesis. In Area C, there also seems to be a set of
houses that have quite a different in architectural style to the
irregular squarish shapes in Area A, as the walls here instead
are set at almost perpendicular angles to each other. Room 2,
is a courtyard offered interesting finds, like many ceramic cups
and bowl, with a large cattle skeleton, which seemed to have
fallen from a shelf or wall. Room 8, is considered as a cooking
area, complete with a well preserved basin, mortars, querns,
many pounders, mortars and burnt bone. In both of these areas
finds include a large quantity of pottery sherds, a fair amount
of chipped stone, and other stone tools, some picrolite, gaming
stones, and metal; all of which were found in the houses but
especially in the corridors of Area A.
Picrolite, it should be noted, is a green stone easy to carve,
and was
made into jewelry
of all sorts. It was taken from the nearby Koros riverbed.
Gaming stones include Senet stones that are punctuated limestone
blocks used for playing games, which arrived due to contact with
Egypt.
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Area B, on the
other hand, was noted in the 1980’s to be, “frustratingly
inconclusive”, (Swiny, 1985: 119), and well, still is. This is
the area where I excavated for the past two years, supervising
it in the latter of these two years. Due to the nature of the
area, on a steep slant, under 2 meters or so of topsoil, as well
as undergoing a fair amount of erosion, it is very difficult to
fully follow the sequence of events here. Another reason it is
so enigmatic, is the
existence of unusual architecture and small amount of finds,
which are comprise of essentially the same type of artifacts
found in the other areas only much less). Initially, it was
thought to be one big chamber but after some removing some more
soil, it proved to be divided into four smaller rooms by low
walls (see figure 5). The tumble was extensive and covered most
of the area. The biggest unit 12 most likely corresponded to a
courtyard in which, to the southwest, a doorway is situated that
offers the only
access to this structure. Room 56 is thought to be a food
preparation room due to two large querns, stone tools and a huge
mortar/trough found in it. Room 57 had a huge bench that ran
along the north and west walls, and contained two large pits,
one of which contained some unfinished stone tools. Some other
major finds in the same room include what is probably the
earliest excavated slag in Cyprus. Even though this structure
does not show any definite sign for
The find processing
religious
association, it does not have the characteristics of a purely
domestic dwelling. It is thus proposed that this area had been
used for a special purpose that may have both religious and
domestic components.
The modern village
is not so much different from that of the Neolithic,
Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age ones. It contains only about 20
houses or so, with a central square and a small café that sells
treats, water, beer and coffee, and is located across the street
from the house of the lively Moukta. They still primarily herd
goats, and from their milk they make Haloumi, which is a salty,
moderately strong cheese. Incidentally, the Haloumi that is
made in this village is marketed and is well known throughout
the island of Cyprus. Throughout the village one notices many
carob, fig, lemon, and olive trees that have grown here since
the Neolithic and are now also harvested by some to make an
extra profit. The villagers are warm and hospitable always
offering “Cypriot coffee”, (which is the same as Turkish
coffee), or a cold, frothy coffee with milk they call a frappe, as
well as, of course, Haloumi. They are also much fun to be
around, inviting us for party nights at the beach or in their
own courtyards where we all listen to music, eat and drink.
Excavating with the Swinys’ is another story. They are
excellent to work with and as they have had much experience, one
certainly learns a great deal on how to excavate. They also
have many other good qualities like patience, open mindedness,
and energy that make the dig run smoothly! To give a short
history of their
endeavours, they previously worked together in Afghanistan,
where Stuart was director of Antiquities. There, they survived
the invasion of the Soviets in 1980, when they were forced to
flee from their home and work. They continued onto Cyprus and
becoming founders of CAARI, for which Prof. Stuart was the
director. Then one day, while working on an excavation in
North Cyprus with a team of young Americans, Turkish troops
arrived in August 1974 and again they had to leave quickly.
They were able to courageously lead their American team to
safety to the British base and onwards home to America. Since
this event they both continue working in America, Prof. Stuart
Swiny at SUNY-Albany and Prof. Laina Swiny for the Museum at
Harvard while continuing excavations during the summers in
Cyprus.
Each day we dig
from about 5:30AM to 1:30PM, then go to lunch and after a
break, continue on in the afternoon from 3: 30 to 5:30-6:00 PM
fixing our notebooks and washing pottery (see Fig. 7). At
about 7:30 we meet for dinner. I should mention that we eat
at one of the villager’s house, which Prof. Swiny arranges
before the dig begins. After dinner we either relax or
“hang-out” (ie., go to Teppes), or work on our notebooks some
more, while some others work on their individual studies. (I
myself am doing a study on the chipped stone for the site.)
Sometimes we have a chance to make a quick run to the beach in
the afternoon or in the evenings after dinner and usually make
it there on the weekends. Though weekends aren’t just about
relaxing, the Swinys’ organize visiting sites ranging all
periods, as well as museums, and cities. In addition to all
this, the Swinys’ previous long stay on the island allowed
them to create many friendships, so we have been invited to
weddings, (including ones from our village), involved in
making a slide show and party in the village square with all
the villagers, and well, saving the village itself from a
fire….
Prof. Swiny had
been my professor for three years in SUNY-Albany and since he
was such an interesting professor, I decided to join his
excavation in Sotira. I really have learned a great deal from
him and enjoyed my time at this excavation, and will one day
be director of a similar excavation…inþala!
I am presently a
Master’s Student at Bilkent University, in my second year. I
was born in Mahopac, New York in America. Having always been
interested in history, science and other cultures, I decided
to join an excavation school in western Ireland before I went
to University. There, I became sure that I wanted to continue
on with archaeology, where I then attended the State
University of Albany, in New York’s capital city to graduate
with a major in Mediterranean Archaeology and minors in both
French and Spanish. While I was an undergraduate, I
participated on digs in France, Germany, and Cyprus. I would
like to continue on to obtain my PHD, preferably in Europe,
and eventually become a research professor.
Genevieve Holdridge
References and Bibliography
Dikaios, P. 1961 Sotira. The University Museum, University of
Pennsylvania, Philidelphia.
Karageorghis, V. 1982 Cyprus from the Stone Age to the Romans.
Karageorghis, V. 1991 Les anciens chyptiote: entre orient et
occident. Arnold Colin.
Karouzis, G. 2000 Touring Guide of Cyprus. Selas: Nicosia.
Swiny, S. 1981 “Bronze Age Settlement Patterns in SW Cyprus.”
Levant XVIII: 51-87.
Swiny, S. 1985 “Sotira- Kamanoudhia and the Chalco-EBA
Transition in Cyprua. Pp.
115-125 in Archaeology in Cyprus 1960-1985. Ed. V. Karagheorgis,
A.G. Levantis Foundation.
Newsletter No. 2
- 2003, Pg. 45
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