Completion of the Excavation Season 2023 at Erimi- Laonin tou Porakou

The Department of Antiquities of the Deputy Ministry of Culture announces the completion of the 2023 fieldwork season of the Italian Erimi archaeological project, where a team of archaeologists, specialists and students from Italy, Cyprus and Greece, leaded by Professor Luca Bombardieri, investigated the Middle Bronze Age settlement and funerary areas at Erimi – Laonin tou Porakou between 2and 28of August. Research is primarily supported by the University of Siena, in a steady collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cyprus Department of Antiquities.

Additionally, a new parallel project focused on a larger-scale analysis of the Kouris Valley ancient landscape commenced in 2023. Landscape, Identity, Network in Kouris Valley (LINK project) is a joint multidisciplinary project that involves archaeological and geomorphological survey of the upper valley area, aiming to reconstruct the hinterland of Bronze Age Erimi – Laonin tou Porakou and investigate the dynamics of interaction between the natural landscape and settlement strategies on a longer-term perspective. This separate project was benefited from the collaboration of three teams on the field performing (a) archaeological systematic excavation (University of Siena), (b) archaeological survey and topography (University of Salento, Catholic University Milano) and (c) geomorphological survey (University of Genova).

The on-site conservation laboratory activity allowed the complete conservation and 3D reconstruction of the large ceramic containers excavated during the 2021 season in the domestic quarter. The pithoi were restored thanks to the collaboration of the Venaria Reale Conservation School (Torino) with the support of students selected through the EU Erasmus Traineeship Program.

The primary investigation of the workshop complex on the top of the hill at Erimi – Laonin tou Porakou confirmed that this atelier, mainly intended for the production of dyed textiles, had a pivotal role for the Erimi community. By extending the investigated area towards the southern and north-western wings of the complex, a series of five new units were traced back. The extension and location of these newly outlined roofed spaces suggests that the workshop shrine SA V excavated by 2022 was accessible only from the eastern wing of the atelier. This evidence indicates that there was a preconceived internal route to access this crucial area of the workshop complex.

Additionally, a rescue excavation was conducted in the extra mural cemetery, Southern cemetery cluster (Area E). A multi-chamber tomb (T682) had been identified and fully investigated, following previous partial clandestine lootings in the area, revealing an interesting multiple burial program and funerary deposits coherent with the more recent life phase of the community during the final stages of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1600 BC).

(NG/ECHR)

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