A group of archaeologists digging at the Neolithic site of Ayia Varvara Asprokremnos, Cyprus, has unearthed an early Neolithic building and a number of interesting artifacts: a stunning human figurine, stone tools and decorative jewelry.
This image shows the remains of a semi-subterranean building unearthed at the Neolithic site of Ayia Varvara Asprokremnos, Cyprus. Image credit: Ministry of Communications and Works, Republic of Cyprus.
First discovered in the 1990s, Ayia Varvara Asprokremnos is a very early Neolithic site located about 3 km southeast of Ayia Varvara Lefkosias and 20 km south of Nicosia. The site has been carbon-dated to between 10,800-10,600 years ago, near the beginning of the Neolithic period.
During the 2013 excavations, scientists from the University of Toronto, Cornell University and the University of Cyprus uncovered what they say is the oldest complete human figurine ever found on the island.
The figurine, dated to at least 8,600 BC, was found in a collection of igneous stone objects that also included two flat stone tools, one with extensive red ochre residue.
The presence of tools provides evidence of significant manufacturing activity associated with the production of chipped stone instruments and the processing of ochre.
This is a 10,800 to 10,600-year-old human figurine unearthed at Ayia Varvara Asprokremnos, Cyprus. Image credit: Ministry of Communications and Works, Republic of Cyprus.
The archaeologists also unearthed a large semi-subterranean building beneath a thick midden deposit.
“It is a simple dish-shaped pit structure furnished with a single post-hole that could have supported only a comparatively light roof for its earliest curvilinear earth floor, with a cluster of small stake holes providing evidence of a similarly light super-structure during a later re-occupation of the building,” the scientists explained.
“The building revealed a substantial cache of river stones and ground stone tools placed on the floor and used for the processing of ochre throughout the life of the structure, implying the intensification of the ochre industry during this phase of occupation at the site.”
The new finds, among which is a decorative jewelry, suggest that hunter-gatherers began to form agricultural settlements on Cyprus 1,000 years earlier than previously believed.
Dr Sally Stewart of the University of Toronto holds replicas of stone tools and decorative jewelry found at Ayia Varvara Asprokremnos. Image credit: Jessica Lewis.
“This tells us that Cyprus was very much a part of the Neolithic revolution that saw significant growth in agriculture and the domestication of animals,” said team member Dr Sally Stewart from the University of Toronto.
“With farming came a surplus of wealth, in both food and time. People now had the time to specialize in other roles such as manufacturing, and they had the time to spend making figurative art.”
Cyprus was always thought to have been permanently settled and following an agricultural lifestyle much later than the mainland areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. But with less than 100 km in between, settlers could easily have crossed the water from what are now northern Syria, Turkey and Lebanon.
