SurveyForeign missions
Amathus: survey of the territory of the kingdom, 1988–1991
1988–1991 · Amathus
The French School at Athens survey of the territory of the kingdom of Amathus, 1988 to 1991: about 150 sites, dense Neolithic occupation, and much of the Hadrianic water system traced.
Map of Cyprus
Where the work took place
- Main site
- Also worked at
- Ground above 200, 500, 1,000 m
Sites
- 1Amathus
- 2Limassol (approx.)
The project
The survey of the territory of the kingdom of Amathus led to two pre-ceramic Neolithic sites, Parekklisha-Shillourokambos and Ayios Tychonas-Klimonas, Shillourokambos was later excavated under Guilaine, Briois and Vigne, and Klimonas was under excavation by Vigne and Briois when Hermary wrote1,2. The École française d'Athènes had concentrated on the city and its acropolis, and the survey set out to explore the territory close to the city1. Hermary writes that it was set up in 1988 under Catherine Petit, Pierre Aupert and Pierre-Yves Péchoux, while Herscher gives the survey as running from 1988 through 1991 under Petit1,3. Marangou names C. Petit-Aupert as director of the 1991 prospection4. The first campaign of 1988 was reported in the Bulletin de correspondance hellénique5, and a prospection campaign of 1990 followed6.
The area ran from the city north to the Limassol Forest, including Ayios Tychonas, Armenokhori and Parekklisha3. About 150 sites were identified, with dense Neolithic occupation, mostly of the ceramic Sotira Culture phase, and extensive activity from the Cypro-Geometric period to the seventh century AD3. Near the eastern edge, towards Pyrgos, the survey recorded one possible Early Bronze Age settlement and one Bronze Age tomb, which Herscher queries as Middle Bronze Age; she describes an apparent Chalcolithic and Bronze Age gap in occupation of this fertile region as enigmatic3. Over about 2,700 ha, the programme documented historical habitation remains, agricultural and viticultural installations, sanctuaries, tombs, quarries and mines1. Aupert and Balandier report that, for the Hellenistic period, the survey by C. Petit-Aupert showed 39 earlier sites continuing and four new ones7.
Much of the Hadrianic water system supplying the city was traced, and Hermary adds that the programme allowed the line of the supply to be reconstructed1,3. Hermary credits the survey with fundamentally renewing knowledge of the first human occupation of Cyprus through the two Neolithic sites1. Briois, Petit-Aupert and Péchoux published the Neolithic land use in Histoire des campagnes d'Amathonte I in 20058.
Directors and team
Directed by
- Catherine Petit1988–1991
Team
Institutions
- École française d'AthènesSponsor
What was found
Periods
Further reading online
1 page- AMEFA Cyprus workshop abstractshisoma.mom.fr · 27 March 2021
Related
Other fieldwork at Amathus · 14
- Amathus: Cesnola's tomb clearance1874–1876
- Amathus: Ohnefalsch-Richter's excavation of four tombs1885
- Amathus: the British Museum (Turner Bequest) excavation1893–1894
- Amathus: the Swedish Cyprus Expedition necropolis survey1930
- Amathus: Department of Antiquities necropolis and town rescue, 1959–19791959–1979
- Amathus: Department excavations on the acropolis slope and the Early Christian basilica, 1960–19611960–1961
- Amathus: Department clearance of the small basilica, 1965–19661965–1966
- Amathus: Department excavations of the lower city, agora and east necropolis (Loulloupis)1972–1987
- Amathus: the French School at Athens mission1975–today
- Amathus: Department necropolis rescue and east necropolis excavation, 1980–1986 (Ino Nicolaou)1980–1986
- Amathus: Department secondary excavations in the west necropolis and at Ayios Tychonas, 1980–19811980–1981
- Amathus: Department excavation of the lower town (Palea Lemesos), 1991–20061991–2006
References
- 1.Antoine Hermary, 2014, L'apport des fouilles françaises d'Amathonte à l'archéologie chypriote, Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 44.
- 2.Stuart Swiny, 2001, The Earliest Prehistory of Cyprus: From Colonization to Exploitation.
- 3.Ellen Herscher, 1995, Archaeology in Cyprus, American Journal of Archaeology 99.
- 4.Antigone Marangou, 2006, Quelques conteneurs phéniciens d'époque hellénistique découverts à Chypre, Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 36.
- 5.C. Petit et al., 1989, Rapport sur les travaux de l'École française à Amathonte de Chypre en 1988. Première campagne d'exploration du royaume, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 113.
- 6.C. Petit, P.-Y. Péchoux and P. Aupert, 1991, Rapport sur les travaux de l'École française à Amathonte de Chypre en 1990. La campagne de prospection, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 115.
- 7.Pierre Aupert, Claire Balandier, Amathonte après la fin du royaume : la ville sous les Antigonides et les premiers Lagides.
- 8.Fr. Briois, C. Petit-Aupert, P.-Y. Péchoux, 2005, Histoire des campagnes d'Amathonte. I. L'occupation du sol au néolithique, Études Chypriotes XVI.