Abstract
Kataliondas Kourvellos is located at the base of an unusual rock knob, in the lower Troodos foothills, about 20 kilometers south of Nicosia. Recent excavations by the University of Geneva revealed that the site was occupied both in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, at the end of the 8th millennium BCE, and in the Cypro-Classical period, in the 4th century BCE.During the Cypro-Classical period, the site seems to have functioned as a rural sanctuary, but the purpose of its location there is not clear: among other explanations, one could be its link with the mining, smelting, and/or trade of metal resources (the lower Troodos foothills have been exploited since the Bronze Age for their copper and other mineralogical resources).
Highlights
Kataliondas Kourvellos is located at the base of an unusual rock knob, in the lower Troodos foothills, about 20 kilometers south of Nicosia
Recent excavations by the University of Geneva revealed that the site was occupied both in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, at the end of the 8th millennium BCE, and in the Cypro-Classical period, in the 4th century BCE
The purpose of having a sanctuary there is not clear: is it because of the rock knob, an obvious landmark? Was the sanctuary placed on the border between the territories of the ancient cities of Tamassos and Idalion? Or was it linked to the mining, smelting, and/or trade of metal resources? The latter seems the most likely choice, on account of the local geological context
Summary
Kataliondas Kourvellos is located at the base of an unusual rock knob, in the lower Troodos foothills, about 20 kilometers south of Nicosia. Birchler Emery et al, Université de Genève Ancient metallurgy, and hyperspectral imaging at Kataliondas Kourvellos (Cyprus)
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