SoundingForeign missions
Kholetria-Ortos: test excavations of the Nevada team
1992–1994 · Kholetria-Ortos
Alan H. Simmons's test excavations of 1992, 1993 and 1994 at Kholetria-Ortos, an aceramic Neolithic site in western Cyprus, which opened 58 square metres and yielded more than 62,000 chipped stone pieces.
Map of Cyprus
Where the work took place
- Ground above 200, 500, 1,000 m
Site
- 1Kholetria-Ortos (approx.)
The project
At Kholetria-Ortos, a hilltop aceramic Neolithic site in western Cyprus, three seasons of test excavation opened 58 square metres and recovered more than 62,000 chipped stone pieces1. Alan H. Simmons directed them in the summers of 1992, 1993 and 19941,2. Herscher gives the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as sponsor, while Steel names Nevada-Reno1,3. Western Cyprus had been archaeologically neglected for the Neolithic, and the lack of any examined Neolithic there was one major stimulus for the work2.
The 1992 season in July opened nine pits, about 12 square metres, to learn whether subsurface deposits existed; a plough zone about 30 cm thick lay over a mixed, dark ashy cultural deposit, and seven of the nine units held aceramic Neolithic material with no structures2. In June and July 1993, geomorphological analysis identified the less disturbed areas, and 18 square metres were opened in two areas2. They showed an intact surface about 30 cm thick, pit remnants cut into bedrock and fragments of melted mudbrick, but no distinct architecture2. The 1994 season expanded the excavated area, again finding no architecture and only a few intact features1,2. The hilltop is under a vineyard that Simmons reports was planted about 30 years before 19932.
The chipped stone included all stages of reduction and distinctive crescent-shaped sickle blanks; two obsidian pieces are the only imported raw material2. Other finds were a nearly complete spouted stone bowl, worked picrolite fragments, at least two dozen incised cobbles, the body of a limestone statuette and two baked clay human figurines1,2. Fragmentary remains of at least two individuals came from 1993, with no direct evidence of intentional burial2. Two bone radiocarbon dates, 6480 ± 230 BP and 7550 ± 70 BP, are uncalibrated; Simmons regards the first as far too recent and the second as fitting solidly within the aceramic Neolithic2. Winkelmann reports that Simmons considers the site possibly a large hamlet4. Simmons published a report on multidisciplinary investigations in RDAC 19965.
Directors and team
Directed by
- Alan H. Simmons1992–1994
Institutions
Seasons
3 seasons- 1992
Large aceramic Neolithic site (2.4 ha) found by the Canadian Palaipaphos Survey: test excavation produced blades, cores, obsidian, crescent sickle blanks, incised cobbles, a limestone figurine torso, pig, sheep/goat and deer bones, human remains of two individuals; no architecture; C14 dates 6480 and 7550 BP. Short sounding campaign: nine soundings totalling 12 m2 reached bedrock at 0.60–1 m. Rich lithic material including some unknown tool types, a statuette fragment, incised pebbles like those of Khirokitia, an obsidian blade and animal bones; no architecture found. Site about 2.5 ha, heavily disturbed by cultivation and a vineyard.
- 1993
18 m2 excavated systematically down to bedrock on this aceramic Neolithic site. Over 28,000 chipped stone objects collected, among the largest assemblages in Cyprus. Animal bones very abundant. Geo-archaeological study of site formation. No architecture preserved; an intact level directly above bedrock contains three pits and at least two human skeletons.
Directed by Alan H. Simmons[8]
- 1994
Third campaign at this aceramic Neolithic hilltop site overlooking the Xeropotamos valley; 58 m2 excavated. Over 62,000 chipped stone objects, ground stone tools, pieces of picrolithe ornaments, two clay figurines, incised pebbles, animal bones, charred seeds; one C14 date around 5600 BC. No architecture identified apart from mud-brick fragments; no tombs identified but human bones of several individuals.
Directed by Alan H. Simmons[9]
What was found
Periods
Features and finds
nine soundings; 12 m2 sounded; three pits in intact level above bedrock; 58 m2 excavated; chipped stone industry (sickle blades, nucleus, burins, scrapers); two small clay figurines; flotation of about 10% of sediments.
Publications
4 itemsAnnual reports of the Department of Antiquities
Chronique des fouilles (Bulletin de correspondance hellénique)
References
- 1.Ellen Herscher, 1998, Archaeology in Cyprus, American Journal of Archaeology 102.
- 2.Alan H. Simmons, 1994, Early Neolithic Settlement in Western Cyprus: Preliminary Report on the 1992–1993 Test Excavations at Kholetria Ortos, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 295.
- 3.Louise Steel, 1997, Archaeology in Cyprus 1987–1997, Archaeological Reports 44.
- 4.Christine Winkelmann, 2020, The Neolithic and Chalcolithic Figurines of Cyprus.
- 5.A. H. Simmons, 1996, Preliminary Report on Multidisciplinary Investigations at Neolithic Kholetria-Ortos, Paphos District, Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus.
Sources
- 1.Medicine and Healing in the Ancient Mediterranean World, p. 242.
- 2.Neolithic Revolution: New Perspectives on Southwest Asia in Light of Recent Discoveries on Cyprus, p. 166.
- 3.Archaeology in Cyprus 1987–1997, p. 10; p. 145.
- 4.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1992, p. 730.
- 5.Archaeology in Cyprus, p. 263.
- 6.Crossroads and Boundaries: The Archaeology of Past and Present in the Malloura Valley, Cyprus.
- 7.Cyprus: Crossroads of civilizations, p. 250.
- 8.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1993, p. 666.
- 9.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1994, p. 814.
- 10.Archaeology in Cyprus, p. 317.
- 11.American researchers and the earliest Cypriots, p. 25.
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