The French Archaeological Mission of Kition conducted a second campaign of excavations in the Northern part of the site of Kition-Bamboula in October 2017 under the direction of S. Fourrier (MEAE-CNRS-Lyon2 University).
Oval structure of Roman date cut into the Classical floor level [Credit: Department of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus] |
In the main trench (Sondage 10), located on the hill slope, the Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age settlement has been further cleared. In the Western part of the trench, a heavy remodelling of the site, which can be dated to the Late Geometric–Early Archaic period, had obliterated all earlier built structures. Early Geometric walls and floors were preserved to the North and East. Floors were usually made of compacted clay, in some cases one finds patches of pavements made of stone or of ceramic pieces. The walls consisted of one or two rows of roundish stones with a superstructure made of mudbricks and wooden elements. The fill of the rooms consisted of a compact reddish layer with ashes patches resulting from the destruction.
Infant inhumation in a Canaanite jar found under a floor level [Credit: Department of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus] |
The preliminary results of this second field campaign demonstrate a much longer occupational phase of the site than previously thought: The Northern part of Bamboula was inhabited since at least the 13th c. BC and continued to be frequented until at least the 2nd or 3rd c. AD. The unexpected discovery of a well has to be interpreted in relation with the numerous Roman amphora fragments found in the harbour basin, which show that Bamboula continued to serve as a major commercial harbour in Roman times. The successive Early Iron and Late Bronze Age floor levels document a chronological sequence poorly known in Cyprus where most sites were abandoned towards the end of the Bronze Age; the ceramic material retrieved so far is thus of utmost importance to gain a clear typo-chronological sequence and better understand the beginning of the new Geometric era.
Source: Department of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus [February 15, 2018]