Swedish
Cyprus Expedition Excavations
at
Dromolaxia-Vizatzia
(Hala
SULTAN Tekke)
The
Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Communications and Works,
announces the completion of the 2014 field season at the Late Bronze
Age city at
the site of
Dromolaxia-Vizatzia
(Hala
Sultan Tekke),
close to Larnaca International Airport and the famous mosque with the
same name. During five weeks in May and June 2014 a Swedish team,
under the direction of Professor Peter M. Fischer from the University
of Gothenburg, exposed city quarters dating to the later part of the
Late Bronze Age (14th
– 12th
centuries BC).
The
size of this city is estimated between 25 and 50 ha. Only a small
portion of the city, the history of which goes back to the 16th
century BC, has so far been excavated. The city was founded in the
16th
century BC, flourished especially in the 13th
century BC but was destroyed in the 12th
century BC. It was abandoned after this destruction and never
reoccupied again. The reasons for the decline of the city and its
abandonment are still unclear but raids of foreign peoples and
climatic changes should be taken into account.
In
order to map structures below the surface prior to the excavations,
ground penetrating radar and magnetometer devices were used in 2013
in a cooperative project between the University of Gothenburg, Prof.
Peter M. Fischer, and the University of Vienna, Dr. Immo Trinks. This
geophysical project resulted in the discovery of hitherto unknown
city quarters. Ground penetrating radar produces “X-ray”-like
images of buried stone structures reaching two metres beneath the
surface. Magnetometer shows various man-made structures, areas with
fire places, concentrations of pottery and pits for storage or
refuse. The 2014 excavations confirmed the radar and magnetometer
results.
Additional
excavations were carried out by the Swedish team within the
copper-producing area which was exposed in 2013. In an approximately
one metre-wide circular pit a complete, doughnut-shaped, ingot of a
copper-tin alloy with a weight of almost exactly 1.5 kg was found.
The ingot was analyzed on the spot with a portable XRF-device (an
analytical device which is based on X-rays). The ingot contains 95.5%
copper, 2.6% tin and traces of iron, zinc, lead, nickel, cobalt,
vanadium, titanium and sulphur.
Excavations
next to the copper-producing area exposed domestic buildings where
small-scale industrial production was carried out. This includes the
production and dyeing of textiles, and the production of pottery.
Many finds were made in this quarter where pottery – locally
produced and imported – was abundant. The latter is decorated and
of high quality and derives mainly from the Mycenaean cultural sphere
(Greece and the Aegean), but pottery from the Levant was also found.
Other finds included personal items such as fingerings, earrings and
bronze tools. The quality of the finds in this specific area of the
city demonstrates that the people who produced copper could afford
such luxury goods and that they seem to belong to an elevated social
class.
The
expedition identified five wells which were partly exposed. In one of
the wells, which is seven metres deep and 1.5 metres in diameter, a
complete figurine of a bull was found. This find was most likely an
offer to please the “God of the Well”. However, this specific
well seemed to have dried up and came out of use. It was thereafter
used as a dump in which the complete skeleton of a horse was
discovered. Amongst the bones of the horse skeleton lay a beautifully
carved cylinder seal of haematite. It is of Syrian origin and shows a
hunting scene with three hunters and three hunted horned animals.
Next to this well was another circular, four meters deep, “well”.
It contained several complete Mycenaean-imported vessels. This
“parallel” well is too shallow to produce water and it was most
likely built for offerings to the “God of the Well”.
The
third well in this area had also dried out in antiquity and was later
reused for human and animal burials: six human skeletons, and the
skeletons of a dog and a goat were excavated. There were no tomb
gifts in connection with the buried humans and one may come to the
conclusion that these were the burials of individuals belonging to
the low classes, slaves for instance. However, one of the skeletons
had an intentionally modified skull a characteristic usually
connected with people of an elevated social status. Cranial
modification (head shaping) was carried out during infancy and may
reflect ancient beauty trends.
The
production of copper and bronze was essential for the economy of the
people at Dromolaxia-Vizatzia
(Hala
Sultan Tekke).
Bronze was one of the most coveted materials during the Bronze Age
but also later in the Iron Age, after 1050 BC. Bronze is an alloy
which contains roughly 90% copper and 10% tin – both quite soft
metals but combined in an alloy harder than pure iron. Bronze was
used for the manufacture of objects such as weapons, tools and
jewellery. It was exported to Greece and further north-west. Analyses
of Swedish bronzes have shown that Cypriot copper found its way as
far as Scandinavia. The high standard of living of the Cypriots
during the Bronze Age was not only based on the production of copper
but also on the export of Cypriot pottery of high quality, and purple
textiles. In exchange, the Cypriots imported gold, silver, lead, and
objects of art mainly from Greece, Egypt and the Levant. There is
also evidence for the import of dried fish from the Nile in Egypt.
The
thriving city of was destroyed shortly after 1200 BC and was never
reoccupied. The expedition found few imports from the Mycenaean
sphere of culture. However, almost exact copies of Mycenaean pottery
were produced during the last phase of occupation at
Dromolaxia-Vizatzia
(Hala
Sultan Tekke).
This leads to the hypothesis that people immigrated from the Greek
mainland and the Aegean islands and that the immigrants from the
Aegean stayed at this city
only
for a short time. Another theory is that they eventually moved
further east, maybe accompanied by the population of
Dromolaxia-Vizatzia
(Hala
Sultan Tekke)
and
eventually settled in the Gaza area and further east, possibly as far
as the Jordan Valley where archaeological finds related to Cyprus and
the Aegean have been noted.
___________
2
July, 2014
