PYLA-KOKKINOKREMOS: Short report of the 2016 campaign

PYLA-KOKKINOKREMOS: Short report of the 2016 campaign1 Directors: Joachim Bretschneider, Jan Driessen & Athanasia Kanta Located on the south-east coast of Cyprus, Pyla-Kokkinokremos was only founded a few decades prior to its eventual abandonment at the beginning of the 12th c. BC. This limited occupation makes the site an excellent case study to explore the impact of the so-called crisis years on the island. Since the settlement was never reoccupied and has an overall lifespan of less than fifty years, Pyla’s material culture can be considered a ‘time capsule’ for this LC IIC-IIIA critical phase. Because of its limited chronological occupation, its strategic position on top of a naturally fortified hill and the surprising ethnic mix of its material culture – with both imported Mycenaean, Minoan, Sardinian, Hittite, Canaanite as well as local Cypriot pottery – Pyla has attracted a fair deal of scholarly attention and plays a vital role in the discussion on potential Aegean migrations to Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean in the advanced Bronze Age. The new research project at Pyla (since 2014) is a joint venture between the Universities of Ghent/Leuven and Louvain (Belgium) and the Mediterranean Archaeological Society (Greece), respectively directed by Joachim Bretschneider, Jan Driessen and Athanasia Kanta. The third excavation campaign took place from March 27th to April 24th 2016. Sector 3 Simon Jusseret & Thérèse Claeys In Sector 3 (the northern and central areas of Kokkinokremos), excavations by the UCLouvain team mainly concentrated on Trenches 3.3 and 3.4, both already partly investigated in 2014-2015. In Trench 3.3, the extension of the trench towards the south-east allowed the completion of the excavation of Space 3.8 where remains of metal-working activities had been identified in 2015. Metal-working evidence was chiefly restricted to Space 3.8.1 – partly explored in 2015 – and Space 3.8.2. In Space 3.8.3, a complete Egyptian alabaster flask painted with a garland of lotus flowers was discovered hidden in a rock-cut pit. On cleaning, this flask showed to be filled with small items (knife, rings, cylinder seal, beads, etc.) in different materials (e.g. bronze, faience, bone or ivory) (Fig. 1). To the south of Space 3.8.3, two rooms hewn out of the bedrock were brought to light (Fig. 2). In Trench 3.4, located on the highest point of the plateau, substantial archaeological remains related to a roughly square building (c. 10 x 10 m) were partly cleared (Fig. 3). Further exploration of the eastern (Trench 3.2) edge of the plateau – initiated in 2014 – provided only meagre results due to modern disturbances. On the northern slope of Kokkinokremos, surface cleaning and a limited test (Trench 3.6) were able to identify a c. 60 m-long wall made of haphazardly laid field stones. Although it is likely that this feature once acted as a retaining wall, its date remains at present unclear. The project benefited from the aid of the Department of Antiquities and especially Dr. Marina Solomidou-Ieronymidou and Dr. Despo Pilides. We also thank Dr. Anna Satraki for her generous help at the Larnaca Museum and Eftychia Zachariou for advice. Excavations were financed by the Institute for Aegean Prehistory, the ARC-A World in Crisis?, the Onderzoeksfonds of the KU Leuven, the IAP 7/14 and Ghent University. 1 Fig. 1: Trench 3.3, Space 3.8.3: Alabaster flask and associated objects (photos J. Bretschneider). Fig. 2: Sector 3, Trench 3.3: Spaces 3.11 and 3.12 from the west (photo S. Jusseret). Fig. 3: Sector 3, Trench 3.4: aerial view of excavated remains at the end of the 2016 excavation campaign (photo N. Kress). Sector 4 Athanasia Kanta Sector 4.1 Seventeen spaces were investigated in 2016 (nos 29-46). Some of these were completely excavated, others only partly. Characteristic of some spaces was a plaster floor, originally polished, with a cement-like appearance (Fig. 4). Similar floors had already been found at Pyla during the 2010-2011 excavation and are also known from Maa-Palaiokastro and Enkomi. Some of the spaces also produced querns and stone vessels suggesting a domestic industrial function. Sector 4.2 In an effort to establish the course of the casemate wall, a new Sector 4.2 was opened. It became clear during our survey of the area that the casemate wall projected well down the slope, forming the usual rooms which are a characteristic of Pyla. Eleven spaces were partly uncovered (1-11). Their excavation brought to light important details about the organisation of the site. This is the second area where the casemate wall projects below the top of the hill. Similar evidence has been uncovered in Sector 5. The spaces investigated contained querns, stone tools and pottery (Fig. 5). A storage stirrup jar imported from Crete and an alabaster vase of particular interest are represented among the finds. Fig. 4 (photo A. Kanta). Fig. 5 (photo A. Kanta). Sector 5 Joachim Bretschneider, Greta Jans & Anne-Sophie Van Vyve The UGhent/KU Leuven team continued the exploration of the south-eastern sector of the summit plateau. The previously excavated area was extended both to the west and south and now covers a total surface of ca. 25 by 16 m. Two new rooms were cleared, giving a total of 12 spaces, built on three different terraces (Fig. 6). These two additional rooms as well as the continued exploration of five previously excavated rooms yielded some interesting features. The two interconnected Spaces 9 and 10 – a unit protruding eastward, beyond the line of the so-called casemate wall – were constructed in a later phase; thus becoming the very first indication for phasing in the architecture of Pyla. The precise function of the 3.5 m-deep rock-cut shaft remains unclear and we hope that the forthcoming analysis of the thick layer of ashes found at the bottom of the shaft may provide more information on this. The shaft was built within a proper room (Space 6), which could be entered from a large space (Space 8), possibly a courtyard, equipped with several installations and with a rich floor deposit which includes a large grey-black stone jar (Fig. 7) and an amphoroid Mycenaean krater decorated with birds. Among the most notable finds of Space 12, adjacent to Space 8, is a terracotta installation meticulously mended with lead strips. Fig. 6: Sector 5 – view to the north (photo J. Bretschneider). Fig. 7: Stone jar excavated in Space 8 in Sector 5 (photo J. Bretschneider).