Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Article · 1979

The Structure of Settlement at Sotira in Cyprus

N. P. Stanley-Price

Levant 11 46-81

An article on the structure of the Neolithic settlement at Sotira, reconstructing three phases on the plateau from stratigraphy, architecture and pottery distributions.

Stanley Price examines how the fourth-millennium BC settlement at Sotira developed and was organised, concentrating on the excavated plateau. He reconsiders the stratigraphy in P. Dikaios's excavation report, reconstructs the plateau plan for three phases, and uses the distribution of buildings and artefacts to ask how the community was arranged. The evidence is the published description, plans and sections for Area V, including floor sequences and deposits beneath structures, with the smaller excavated areas on the slopes, where the record is thinner, and Dikaios's pottery counts.

The argument

Phase 1 is reconstructed from structures and traces of activity across the plateau, with the northern edge among the earliest occupied areas. Stanley Price proposes that Phase 2 began with levelling after the Phase 1 destruction, followed by larger free-standing buildings with subsidiaries added beside them. The Phase 2 destruction is attributed to subsidence, for which an earthquake is proposed as the likely cause, and a retaining wall was built before some structures were reoccupied in Phase 3 (pp. 59–67).

Ware proportions stay broadly consistent across the three phases, though some minor wares cluster in particular parts of the plateau and in particular buildings. For this comparison Stanley Price assigns finds from between-floor and destruction deposits to the preceding floor, and he cautions that the published record of finds outside structures is sparse and that some Phase 3 contexts may have been disturbed. Mapping hearths, enclosures, stone-working materials, picrolite and flint-working evidence and antler and bone-working finds, he identifies at the end of Phase 2 groups of buildings centred on larger structures, and suggests that some household organisation may have been kin-based. These social readings are offered as hypotheses that depend partly on assumptions about pottery production (pp. 74–80).

Dating

Stanley Price proposes that the building sequence is continuous but broken by two destruction horizons, and Stanley Price divides it into Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3. Phase 2 combines Dikaios's Phases II and III, and Phase 3 corresponds to his Phase IV, so some structures are reassigned from the phases Dikaios gave them. Two radiocarbon dates are available, and Stanley Price sets them with 16 dates from Sotira and other sites and with an estimate of four to six generations of occupation. He concludes that the settlement probably lasted 100–200 years (pp. 80–81).

What it records

  • Sotira lies on and around a hill at 330 m above sea level in the southern chalk foothills of Cyprus.p. 46
  • P. Dikaios discovered Sotira in 1934 and made test pits there before the long-term excavations began.p. 46
  • Area V was excavated intensively in 1951 and 1952, with supplementary campaigns in 1954 and 1956.p. 47
  • Area V covered about 2000 square metres, with an average stratigraphic depth of less than one metre.p. 49
  • Preserved burials in Area I were in oblong pits, contracted and with heads facing east, except Grave 2, and were covered with stones.p. 49
  • Stanley Price classifies the plateau sequence into three phases, combining Dikaios's Phases II and III as Phase 2.p. 55
  • Stanley Price proposes an earthquake as the most likely cause of the subsidence and collapse of structures at the end of Phase 2.p. 65
  • The plateau pottery assemblage includes some 16,000 sherds from stratified contexts in the three phases.p. 68
  • White clay wares make up 4% of the sherds recovered from the plateau.p. 69
  • Stanley Price estimates that the plateau settlement lasted at least four and at most six generations.p. 81
  • Radiocarbon dates of 3455 ± 110 BC for H.29 in Phase 1 and 3145 ± 130 BC for H.12 in Phase 2 come from the site.p. 81

Where to read

  • Excavation areas and the limits of the published evidencepp. 46–50
  • Phase 1 stratigraphy and the northern plateau structurespp. 52–54
  • Reconstructed plateau plans for Phases 1–3pp. 59–67
  • Pottery wares and their distribution by buildingpp. 68–74
  • Craft activities, building complexes and household interpretationpp. 76–80
  • Radiocarbon dates and estimated duration of occupationpp. 80–81

Contents

  • 1. Introduction46
  • 2. Nature and Extent of the Area Excavated46
  • 3. Stratigraphy of the Plateau Occupation50
  • 3.1 Phase 1 Stratigraphy52
  • North Plateau Edge52
  • Central and Southern Plateau52
  • The Date of H.153
  • 3.2 Phase 2 and Phase 3 Stratigraphy55
  • The Phase 2 Destruction and Retaining-Wall55
  • Phase 2 Structures. Central and Eastern Plateau56
  • Northern Plateau57
  • West and South-west Plateau57
  • 4. Reconstruction of the Plateau Site Plan, by Phase59
  • 4.1 Occupation on the Plateau in Phase 159
  • Probable Development of Phase I62
  • 4.2 Occupation on the Plateau in Phase 2 (Fig. 6)63
  • 4.3 The Phase 2 Destruction and Phase 3 Occupation (Fig. 7)65
  • 5. Internal Structure of the Plateau Occupation67
  • 5.1 Dikaios' Pottery Wares: Classification and Use68
  • 5.2 Distribution of Pottery on the Plateau70
  • 5.3 Buildings Complexes on the Plateau77
  • 6. Summary and Chronology80
  • Appendix: Phase Assignment of Excavation Contexts81
  • References83

Objects published here

1
  • Quern fractured along the line of subsidence, H.29 (p. 65)

People, places and institutions

People

Places

  • Sotiraprehistoric settlement analysed in three phases
  • Eriminearby site compared in the introduction
  • Vrysisite compared with Sotira's buildings and pottery

Also named: University of Pennsylvania Curium Expedition, University Museum, Pennsylvania, Khirokitia, Kandou Kouphovounos, Paramali Mouzomena, Symboulas River, Kouris River, Philia Drakos Site A, Kalavassos B.

Extent pp. 46–83, figs 1–12 (map fig. 1, plans figs 5–7); references

Defines Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, Combed, Red Lustrous, Coarse, Red-on-White

NeolithicSettlementsPotteryArchitectureCraft ProductionChronology and Dating

Cited on Ancient Cyprus

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