Erimi

Erimi in Cypriot Prehistory: Two Sites, Two Eras in the Kouris Valley

The name Erimi resonates through the long span of Cypriot prehistory, yet it does not refer to a single, continuous settlement. Instead, it designates a specific locale within the Kouris River valley that hosted two distinct and chronologically separate communities. The first, Erimi-Pamboula, is the eponymous site for the island’s Chalcolithic period, a long-lasting cultural phase characterized by distinctive material culture and social practices. The second, Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou, emerged more than half a millennium after the first site was abandoned, representing a Middle Bronze Age community with a specialized economy and a planned settlement structure. Separated by a lengthy hiatus, these two sites offer a valuable opportunity to examine the significant transformations that shaped Cypriot society before the emergence of the major urban centres of the Late Bronze Age [1, p. 50; 2, p. 4]. This article will examine each site in turn, exploring their archaeological record, material culture, and social organization to understand their respective roles in the prehistory of the Kouris valley and the island as a whole.

Part I: Erimi-Pamboula and the Chalcolithic Era (c. 3900–2500 BCE)

The Chalcolithic period, lasting some 1500 years, was a transformative era for Cyprus, marked by significant population growth, the establishment of around 100 villages, the appearance of the first Cypriot metalwork, and an island-wide symbolic system [3, p. 44; 4, p. 29]. This period is often referred to as the "Erimi culture," a designation derived from the site of Erimi-Pamboula, first excavated by Porphyrios Dikaios between 1933 and 1935 [3, p. 44; 5, p. 179]. While naming an entire cultural phase after a single site can be problematic, as it risks overgeneralizing from a specific context, the name reflects the pivotal role the site’s discoveries played in defining this period of Cypriot prehistory [6, p. 325].

The settlement of Erimi-Pamboula was situated on a low plateau approximately three miles from the southern coast, on the eastern bank of the perennial Kouris River [7, p. 73; 8, p. N/A]. This location provided a reliable water supply and access to essential raw materials, factors that Dikaios identified as critical for settlement choice in the period [8, p. N/A; 9, p. 33]. The site itself was substantial, estimated to cover 15 hectares [10, p. 18]. Excavations, though limited to a small area of about 150 square metres, revealed a deep stratigraphy of up to 5.5 metres, indicating an extended period of occupation [5, p. 22; 7, p. 73]. Radiocarbon dating and ceramic analysis place the main occupation during the Middle Chalcolithic, from approximately 3500 to 3000 BCE [5, p. 22; 7, p. 73].

The architectural remains at Erimi-Pamboula document a clear evolution over time. The earliest levels featured ephemeral, timber-framed superstructures built within shallow depressions [7, p. 73]. These gradually developed into more substantial circular buildings, some with partial stone foundations, and eventually into structures built entirely with stone foundations [7, p. 73; 5, p. 23]. In the later phases, some of these circular buildings were partitioned internally into two rooms [7, p. 73]. The subsistence economy appears to have been diversified, with faunal remains indicating a diet that included deer, sheep or goat, pig, and marine mollusks [5, p. 23]. While no edible plant remains were recovered, this is likely an artifact of early excavation techniques rather than evidence for an absence of agriculture or plant gathering [5, p. 23].

Burials at the site were intramural, a common practice before the Bronze Age [11, p. 87]. The remains of four individuals—two adults, a child, and an adolescent—were found, three of them within formal burial facilities [7, p. 73]. One adult was interred in a pit grave beneath the floor of a hut, placed in a flexed position and covered with stones, including a large stone over the head [7, p. 73]. This individual was accompanied by the only grave good found at the site, sherds of a pottery vessel, and was laid upon deer antlers, with an animal shoulder blade found in the chest region [7, p. 73].

The material culture of Erimi-Pamboula is central to defining the Chalcolithic period. The ceramic assemblage is dominated by Red-on-White (RW) ware, which shows a stylistic progression from a Broad Line to a Close Line decorative style over time [5, p. 17]. This pottery type is closely associated with the production of terracotta figurines, as they share the same clays, tempers, and decorative motifs [5, p. 36; 12, p. 4]. Excavations at the site yielded a large number of anthropomorphic pottery figurines, though most were found as fragments of heads, torsos, and limbs [7, p. 278; 7, p. 173]. These figures vary considerably in size, from small objects to large statuettes [7, p. 216]. While most lack explicit sexual characteristics, those that are sexed are typically female [13, p. 16]. The early excavation methods, however, resulted in a general lack of contextual information for these finds, making it difficult to determine their specific function or placement within the settlement [7, p. 252].

The chipped stone industry at Erimi-Pamboula shows a continuity with the preceding Neolithic period but is characterized as a more heavily flake-based assemblage, distinct from the blade-based industries of earlier eras [14, p. 264; 15, p. 135]. Scrapers, particularly those made from a dark, high-quality chert known as ‘Moni’ chert, are a key tool type [16, p. 256].

Perhaps the most significant economic activity identified with the site relates to the procurement and trade of picrolite. This soft, blue-green stone, related to serpentine, was sourced as water-worn pebbles from the adjacent Kouris River [9, p. 36; 10, p. 109]. Picrolite was a highly valued, non-utilitarian material used to produce cruciform pendants and other ornaments that were exchanged across the island [6, p. 369; 13, p. 40]. It has been suggested that the exceptional size and longevity of Erimi-Pamboula were directly related to its advantageous location, which allowed its inhabitants to control the exploitation and distribution of this resource, making it a mainstay of their economy [10, p. 109].

Towards the end of the Middle Chalcolithic, between 2900 and 2700 BCE, a widespread restructuring of settlement occurred across southern Cyprus [7, p. 73]. Major sites like Erimi-Pamboula were abandoned, and the material culture that had defined the Erimi culture for centuries, including RW pottery and picrolite figurines, disappeared from the archaeological record [5, p. 36; 7, p. 73]. This collapse, which appears to be an internal transformation with no evidence of foreign involvement, must be viewed within the broader context of upheavals affecting much of the Eastern Mediterranean at the time [3, p. 44; 17, p. 24]. After its abandonment, the site of Erimi-Pamboula was not reoccupied, and its location remained vacant for over half a millennium [18, p. 45; 19, p. 304].

Part II: Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou and the Bronze Age (c. 1950–1650 BCE)

After a long hiatus, settlement returned to the Erimi locale during the Middle Bronze Age. The site of Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou was established on a high limestone plateau on the eastern bank of the Kouris, about 250 metres above sea level [2, p. 4; 20, p. 57]. First identified by surveys in 2007, the site has been systematically investigated by the Italian Erimi Archaeological Project since 2009 [21, p. 76; 2, p. 4]. Its prominent position afforded excellent visibility over the river valley and likely functioned as a sighting point within the regional communication network [21, p. 76].

The main period of occupation, known as Period 2, spans from Early Cypriot (EC) III to Late Cypriot (LC) IA, roughly 1950–1650 BCE [21, p. 78; 9, p. 61]. The settlement, extending over approximately 1.2 hectares, was organized into functionally distinct areas [2, p. 4]. On the hilltop was Area A, a workshop complex, while the first lower terrace was occupied by Area B, a residential quarter [2, p. 4; 21, p. 257]. To the west, a massive circuit wall, 1.6–1.7 metres wide, separated the settlement from its cemeteries, which were located in two clusters to the south (Area E) and east (the Vounaros cluster) [2, p. 4].

The site's architecture indicates a high degree of planning and communal organization. The entire settlement was constructed using a technique of carving semi-sunken structures into the limestone bedrock, with foundations for walls set into these cuts [22, p. 143; 2, p. 4]. This method required a significant investment of coordinated labor, suggesting an organization that operated at a supra-household level [23, p. 446]. The workshop complex in Area A shows a particularly coherent and regular layout, with rectangular building units and open-air spaces aligned along a street system, likely the result of an original, unified design [21, p. 257; 2, p. 4]. The residential Area B, by contrast, appears to have formed through a more organic, agglutinative process, with long rectangular rooms arranged around courtyards [2, p. 4]. Despite these different organizational principles, the buildings in both areas share a consistent northeast-southwest orientation, further supporting the idea of a preconceived settlement plan [21, p. 249].

The primary economic focus of Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou appears to have been textile production [20, p. 64]. Area A contains numerous installations—such as basins and heating structures—and ceramic vessels associated with the various stages of textile manufacture, including spinning, the preparation of dyes, dyeing, washing, and drying [24, p. 10; 20, p. 57]. The large number of spindle whorls found throughout the settlement and in funerary contexts further reinforces the centrality of this craft [24, p. 8]. The well-planned organization of the workshop suggests that the community invested considerable effort and resources into creating a dedicated industrial space [24, p. 10]. While there is no evidence for centralized, institutional control, the scale of production implies a cooperative system involving different members of the community [24, p. 10]. Access to some enclosed spaces within the workshop, where specialized tasks like dyeing may have occurred, might have been controlled, hinting at the existence of specific knowledge held by certain individuals [24, p. 10].

The extramural cemeteries provide insights into the community’s social and symbolic world. The tombs consist of small, single, irregularly rounded rock-cut chambers, sometimes accessed by a short dromos [25, p. 6]. Grave goods confirm the chronological link between the cemeteries and the workshop, with material dating from EC III to LC IA [9, p. 61]. A notable feature of the burials is the high frequency of spindle whorls, found in greater numbers here than in contemporary cemeteries elsewhere in Cyprus [24, p. 8]. For instance, Tomb 429 contained twelve whorls, and Tomb 231 yielded seven, including an unusual "double" spindle whorl [24, p. 8]. Since these tools show signs of use-wear, they were not made specifically for burial but were personal items that held significance for the deceased and their community, symbolizing the craft that defined the settlement's identity [24, p. 8].

Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou was part of a dynamic regional system in the Kouris valley, which included other Bronze Age sites such as Sotira-Kaminoudhia, Episkopi-Phaneromeni, and Alassa [2, p. 3; 26, p. 362]. Evidence of imported materials indicates that the settlement also participated in a systematic inter-regional exchange network [27, p. 256]. The site was abandoned after LC IA (c. 1650 BCE), a phenomenon paralleled at nearby Episkopi-Phaneromeni [9, p. 62; 8, p. N/A]. This abandonment was part of a broader reorganization of settlement in the Kouris valley, which saw the subsequent development of centres like Episkopi-Bamboula [9, p. 62]. While the specific reasons for the site's abandonment are not definitively known, the limited availability of land for expansion may have been a contributing factor [21, p. 275]. A short, sporadic frequentation of the area occurred much later during the Hellenistic and Roman periods [2, p. 4].

Conclusion

The archaeology of the Erimi area reveals not one history, but two. The Chalcolithic site of Erimi-Pamboula stands as a key representative of the long and distinctive Erimi culture, a society characterized by its circular architecture, Red-on-White pottery, and an economy partly reliant on the control and exchange of picrolite. Its eventual abandonment marked the end of a cultural tradition that had endured for over a millennium.

Centuries later, the Middle Bronze Age settlement of Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou emerged as a different kind of community. It was a well-planned settlement with a specialized economy focused on textile production. Its organized workshop, communal labor, and the symbolic importance of textile tools in mortuary ritual suggest a cohesive community with a strong collective identity. This site provides a crucial case study for the social and economic developments during the formative period that preceded the full urbanism of the Late Bronze Age. It demonstrates the emergence of supra-household organization, settlement planning, and specialized production in a non-elite context, offering a glimpse into the processes that would eventually lead to the complex societies of later Cypriot prehistory. The two Erimi sites, though separated by time, together illustrate the profound changes in settlement, economy, and social structure that defined ancient Cyprus. Future interdisciplinary analysis of the materials from Laonin tou Porakou and continued study of the legacy collections from Pamboula will undoubtedly refine our understanding of these two pivotal moments in the island's past [21, p. 279; 13, p. 14].