Prehistoric Cyprus
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The Prehistoric Period is the oldest part of Cypriot history. This article covers the period 10,000 to 800 BC and ends immediately before the documented history of Cyprus begins.
Epipalaeolithic
Cyprus was not settled in the
Neolithic
This article or section appears to contradict itself on the end of the Aceramic period.(July 2022) |
Aceramic Neolithic
The oldest evidence of neolithic settlement is dated to 8800–8600 BC.
In the 6th millennium BC, the
Water wells discovered by archaeologists in western Cyprus are believed to be among the oldest in the world, dated at 9,000 to 10,500 years old, putting them in the Stone Age. They are said to show the sophistication of early settlers, and their heightened appreciation for the environment.[5]
Plant remains indicate the cultivation of cereals, lentils, beans, peas and a kind of plum called Bullace. Remains of the following animal species were recovered during excavations: Persian fallow deer, goat, sheep, mouflon and pig. More remains indicate Red deer, Roe deer, a kind of horse and a kind of dog but no cattle as yet.
Life expectancy seems to have been short; the average age at death appears to have been about 34 years, and there was a high infant mortality rate.
In 2004, the remains of an 8-month-old cat were discovered buried with its human owner at a Neolithic archeological site in Cyprus.[6] The grave is estimated to be 9,500 years old, predating Egyptian civilization and pushing back the earliest known feline-human association significantly.[7]
Ceramic Neolithic
This section needs to be updated.(July 2022) |
The aceramic civilisation of Cyprus came to an end quite abruptly around 6000 BC. It was probably followed by a vacuum of almost 1,500 years until around 4500 BC when one sees the emergence of Neolithic II (Ceramic Neolithic).
At this time newcomers arrived in Cyprus introducing a new Neolithic era. The main settlement that embodies most of the characteristics of the period is Sotira near the south coast of Cyprus. The following ceramic Sotira phase (Neolithic II) has monochrome vessels with combed decoration. It had nearly fifty houses, usually having a single room that had its own hearth, benches, platforms and partitions that provided working places. The houses were on the main free-standing, with relatively thin walls and tended to be square with rounded corners. The sub-rectangular houses had two or three rooms. In Khirokitia, the remains of the Sotira phase overlay the aceramic remains. There are Sotira-ceramics in the earliest levels of Erimi as well. In the North of the island, the ceramic levels of Troulli may be synchronous with Sotira in the South.
The Late Neolithic is characterised by a red-on white ware. The late Neolithic settlement of Kalavassos-Pamboules has sunken houses.
Chalcolithic
The Neolithic culture was destroyed by an earthquake c. 3800 BC. In the society that emerged there are no overt signs of newcomers but signs of continuity, therefore despite the violent natural catastrophe, there is an internal evolution that is formalised around 3500 BC with appearance of the first metalwork and the beginning of the Chalcolithic (copper and stone) period that lasted until about 2500/2300 BC. Very few chisels, hooks and jewellery of pure copper have survived, but in one example there is a minimal presence of tin, something which may support contact with Asia Minor, where copper-working was established earlier.
During the Chalcolithic period changes of major importance took place along with technological and artistic achievements, especially towards its end. The presence of a stamp seal and the size of the houses that was not uniform, both hint at property rights and social hierarchy. The same story is supported by the burials because some of them were deposited in pits without grave goods and some in shaft graves with relatively rich furniture, both being indications of wealth accumulation by certain families and social differentiation.
The
The Chalcolithic period did not come to an end at the same time throughout Cyprus, and lingered in the Paphos area until the arrival of the Bronze Age.
Bronze Age
Early Bronze Age
The new era was introduced by people from Anatolia who came to Cyprus about 2400 BC. The newcomers are identified archaeologically because of a distinct material culture, known as the Philia Culture. This was the earliest manifestation of the Bronze Age. Philia sites are found in most parts of the island.
As the newcomers knew how to work with copper they soon moved to the so-called copperbelt of the island, that is the foothills of the
The Philia phase of the Bronze Age (or Philia phases) saw a rapid transformation of technology and economy.[8] Rectilinear buildings made of mud-brick, the plough, the warp-weighted loom and clay pot stands are among the characteristic introductions. Cattle were reintroduced, together with the donkey.
The succeeding Early Bronze Age is divided into three general phases (Early Cypriot I - III) - a continuous process of development and population increase. Marki Alonia is the best excavated settlement of this period.
Marki Alonia and Sotira Kaminoudhia are excavated settlements. Many cemeteries are known, the most important of which is Bellapais Vounous on the North coast.
Middle Bronze Age
The Middle Bronze Age, which follows the Early Bronze Age (1900–1600 BC), is a relatively short period and its earlier part is marked by peaceful development. The Middle Bronze Age is known from several excavated settlements: Marki Alonia, Alambra Mouttes and Pyrgos Mavroraki. These give evidence of economy and architecture of the period. From Alambra and Marki in central Cyprus we know that the houses were rectangular with many rooms, with lanes allowing people to move freely in the community. At the end of the Middle Bronze Age,
The up to now oldest copper workshops have been excavated at Pyrgos-Mavroraki, 90 km southwest of Nicosia. Cyprus was known as Alashiya, the name is preserved in Egyptian, Hittite, Assyrian and Ugaritic documents. The first recorded name of a Cypriot king is Kushmeshusha, as appears on letters sent to Ugarit in the 13th century BC.[10]
Late Bronze Age
The beginning of the Late Bronze Age does not differ from the closing years of the previous period. Unrest, tension and anxiety mark all these years, probably because of some sort of engagement with the Hyksos, who ruled Egypt at this time but were expelled from there in the mid-1500s BC. Soon afterwards peaceful conditions prevailed in the Eastern Mediterranean that witnessed a flowering of trade relations and the growing of urban centres. Chief among them was Enkomi, near modern Famagusta, though several other harbour towns also sprang up along the southern coast of Cyprus. Around 1500 BC, Thutmose III claimed Cyprus and imposed a tax on the island.
Literacy was introduced to Cyprus with the Cypro-Minoan syllabary, a derivation from Cretan Linear A. It was first used in early phases of the late Bronze Age (LCIB, 14th century BC) and continued in use for c. 400 years into the LC IIIB, maybe up to the second half of the 11th century BC. It likely evolved into the Cypriot syllabary.
The Late Cypriot (LC) IIC (1300–1200 BC) was a time of local prosperity. Cities were rebuilt on a rectangular grid plan, like Enkomi, where the town gates now correspond to the grid axes and numerous grand buildings front the street system or newly founded. Great official buildings (constructed from
Rectangular corbelled tombs point to close contacts with Syria and Palestine as well. The practice of writing spread, and
Cyprus was, at some times, a part of the
The years of peace that brought about such a flowering of culture and civilisation did not last. During these years Cyprus reached unprecedented heights in prosperity and it played a rather neutral role in the differences of her powerful neighbours.
Rich finds from this period testify to a vivid commerce with other countries. We have jewellery and other precious objects from the Aegean along with pottery that prove the close connections of the two areas, though finds coming from Near Eastern countries are also plentiful.
In the later phase of the late Bronze Age (LCIIIA, 1200–1100 BC) great amounts of "Mycenaean" IIIC:1b
Another Greek wave of colonization is believed to have taken place in the following century (LCIIIB, 1100–1050), indicated, among other things, by a new type of graves (long dromoi) and Mycenean influences in pottery decoration.
Most authors claim that the Cypriot city kingdoms, first described in written sources in the 8th century BC were already founded in the 11th century BC. Other scholars see a slow process of increasing social complexity between the 12th and the 8th centuries, based on a network of chiefdoms. In the 8th century (geometric period) the number of settlements increases sharply and monumental tombs, like the 'Royal' tombs of Salamis appear for the first time. This could be a better indication for the appearance of the Cypriot kingdoms. This period shows the appearance of large urban centers.
Iron Age
The Iron Age follows the Submycenean period (1125–1050 BC) or Late Bronze Age and is divided into the:
- Geometric 1050–700 BC
- Archaic 700–525 BC
In the ensuing Early Iron Age Cyprus becomes predominantly Greek. Pottery shapes and decoration show a marked Aegean inspiration although Oriental ideas creep in from time to time. Pottery types also appear from other
Foundations myths documented by classical authors connect the foundation of numerous Cypriot towns with immigrant Greek heroes in the wake of the
Cremation as a burial rite is seen as a Greek introduction as well. The first cremation burial in Bronze vessels has been found at Kourion-Kaloriziki, tomb 40, dated to the first half of the 11th century (LCIIIB). The shaft grave contained two bronze rod tripod stands, the remains of a shield, and a golden sceptre as well. Formerly seen as the Royal grave of first Argive founders of Kourion, it is now interpreted as the tomb of a native Cypriote or a Phoenician prince. The cloisonné enamelling of the sceptre head with the two falcons surmounting it has no parallels in the Aegean, but shows a strong Egyptian influence.
In the 8th century, numerous
The 8th century BC saw a marked increase of wealth in Cyprus. Communications to the east and west were on the ascent and this created a prosperous society. Testifying to this wealth are the so-called royal tombs of Salamis, which, although plundered, produced a truly royal abundance of wealth. Sacrifices of horses, bronze tripods and huge cauldrons decorated with sirens, griffins etc., chariots with all their ornamentation and the horses' gear, ivory beds and thrones exquisitely decorated were all deposited into the tombs' "dromoi" for the sake of their masters.
The late 8th century is the time of the spreading of the Homeric poems, the "
At Salamis the ashes of the deceased are also wrapped into a cloth and deposited into a bronze cauldron. Therefore, the Cypriots along with their extravagant display of wealth that bears many oriental features, do not forget their roots for which they must have been very proud. The circulation of the Homeric poems must have revived the interest in their ancestors whose system of government they never lost sight of.
The Prehistoric Period came to an end with the writing of the first works that still survive, first by the
Genetic studies
Neolithic Cyprus
In their archaeogenetics study, Lazaridis et al. (2022)[14] carried out principal components analysis (PCA), projecting the ancient individuals onto the variation of present-day West Eurasians. They discovered that Neolithic Cypriots genetically clustered with Neolithic Anatolians. Two main clusters emerge: an “Eastern Mediterranean” Anatolian/Levantine cluster that also includes the geographically intermediate individuals from Cyprus, and an “inland” Zagros-Caucasus-Mesopotamia-Armenia-Azerbaijan cluster. There is structure within these groupings. Anatolian individuals group with each other and with those from Cyprus, whereas Levantine individuals are distinct.[14]
During the Neolithic era the highest proportion of Anatolian Neolithic-related ancestry is observed in Neolithic Anatolian populations as well as Neolithic Aegeans and the early farmers of Cyprus. The high Anatolian-related ancestry in Cyprus revealed by their model and subsequent analyses sheds light on debates about the origins of the people who spread Pre-Pottery Neolithic culture to Cyprus. Parallels in subsistence, technology, settlement organization, and ideological indicators suggest close contacts between Pre-Pottery Neolithic B people in Cyprus and on the mainland, but the geographic source of the Cypriot Pre-Pottery Neolithic populations has been unclear, with many possible points of origin. An inland Middle Euphrates source has been suggested on the basis of architectural and artifactual similarities. However, the faunal record at Cypriot Pre-Pottery Neolithic B sites and the use of Anatolian obsidian as raw material suggest linkages with Central and Southern Anatolia, and the genetic data increase the weight of evidence in favor of this scenario of a primary source in Anatolia.[14]
See also
- Cyprus dwarf hippopotamus
- Cyprus dwarf elephant
References
- doi:10.21426/B6110069 – via ResearchGate.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archaeologists find oldest evidence of Late Stone Age settlement on Cyprus".
- ^ Swiny, 2001
- ^ "Stone Age wells found in Cyprus". BBC News. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
- ^ Wade, Nicholas, "Study Traces Cat's Ancestry to Middle East", The New York Times, June 29, 2007
- ^ Walton, Marsha (April 9, 2004). "Ancient burial looks like human and pet cat". CNN. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
- ^ Webb, 1999
- ^ "This item has moved". Archived from the original on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
- ISBN 978-1-4008-7449-1.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-32526-X, 9780313325267.
- ^ Andreas G. Orphanides, "Late Bronze Age Socio-Economic and Political Organization, and the Hellenization of Cyprus", Athens Journal of History, volume 3, number 1, 2017, pp. 7–20
- ^ C. Michael Hogan, Cydonia, The Modern Antiquarian, Jan. 23, 2008
- ^ S2CID 251843250.
Bibliography
- Bernard Knapp, A. Prehistoric and Protohistoric Cyprus. Oxford University Press, 2008.
- Clarke, Joanne, with contributions by Carole McCartney and Alexander Wasse. On the Margins of Southwest Asia: Cyprus during the 6th to 4th Millennia BC.
- Gitin S., A. Mazar, E. Stern (eds.), Mediterranean Peoples in Transition, Thirteenth to Early Tenth Centuries BCE (Jerusalem, Israel exploration Society 1998). Late Bronze Age and transition to the Iron Age. ISBN 9789652210364
- Muhly J. D. The role of the Sea People in Cyprus during the LCIII period. In: V. Karageorghis/J. D. Muhly (eds), Cyprus at the close of the Bronze Age (Nicosia 1984), 39–55. End of Bronze Age
- Orphanides, Andreas G. (2017). "Late Bronze Age Socio-Economic and Political Organization, and the Hellenization of Cyprus". Athens Journal of History. 3 (1): 7–20. S2CID 158055178.
- Swiny, Stuart (2001) Earliest Prehistory of Cyprus, American School of Oriental Research ISBN 0-89757-051-0
- Tatton-Brown, Veronica. Cyprus BC, 7000 Years of History (London, British Museum 1979).
- Webb J. M. and D. Frankel, Characterising the Philia facies. Material culture, chronology and the origins of the Bronze Age in Cyprus. American Journal of Archaeology 103, 1999, 3-43.
External links
- [1]
- Archaeology and history of Cyprus
- Deneia Bronze Age pottery [2]
- Ancient History of Cyprus, by Cypriot government Archived 2006-05-08 at the Wayback Machine.