Arediou-Vouppes (Lithosouros) A Late Bronze Age Farming Community on Cyprus: Louise Steel
Excavations are ongoing at Arediou-Vouppes, a Late Bronze Age settlement in Cyprus. The site is located at the interface between the Mesaoria plain and the northern foothills of the Troodos mountains. In 1993 SCSP (Sydney Cyprus Survey Project) identified it as an agricultural support village, based on the large quantities of pithos sherds (storage jars) and ground stone tools found on the surface. They suggested that agricultural surplus from Arediou was used to support communities at nearby mining settlements or was perhaps sent to the larger urban centres.
Research Objectives
Various settlement models have been suggested for LBA Cyprus. These form the basis for complex socio-economic models integrating smaller inland settlements with the coastal towns. However, the nature of inland settlement and agricultural production on the island is poorly understood, not least because excavations have tended to focus on the larger urban centres. Consequently, the primary objective of research at Arediou is to examine the nature of occupation for a small LBA settlement in the Cypriot interior. Specifically we aim to:
Define a farmstead or village according to its material remains (its architecture, pottery assemblage, lithics, etc).- Establish the economic basis (eg. agricultural, pastoral, involvement in copper procurement and production).
- Explore possible integration in island-wide socio-economic systems (indigenous and extra-insular trade, economic documents, luxuries).
Other aims are to examine the nature of funerary practices at Arediou; whether these belong to an older, rural tradition of extramural cemeteries or the LBA tradition of burial within the settlement.
Publications
Steel, L. and Thomas, S (2008) Exacavations at Arediou-Vouppes (Lithosouros), Cyprus. An interim report on excavations 2005-2006. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus (in press).
Steel, L. (2008) Exploring Regional Settlement on Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age: The Rural Hinterland. Pp. 134-145 in I. Hein (ed.), The Formation of Cyprus in the 2nd Millennium B.C. Studies in Regionalism during the Middle and Late Bronze Age. Wien: Verlages der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Stee, L. and McCartney, C. (2008) Survey at Arediou Vouppes (Lithosouros), A Late Bronze Age Agricultural Settlement on Cyprus: A Preliminary Analysis of the Material Culture Assemblages. BASOR 351: 9-37.
Steel, L. 2007 Arediou-Vouppes (Lithosouros) Excavation Project. Bulletin of the Council for British Research in the Levant 2: 92-95.
Steel, L. 2006 Arediou-Vouppes. Bulletin of the Council for British Research in the Levant 1: 68-9.
Steel, L. 2005 Survey at Arediou-Vouppes, Cyprus. PAST 49 (online).
Steel, L. and Janes, S. 2005 Survey at Arediou-Vouppes, Cyprus. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus 2005: 231-244.
Funding Bodies and Affiliation
The project is sponsored by INSTAP and is affiliated to the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR). Special thanks are due to Dr Pavlos Flourentzos (Director, Department of Antiquities, Cyprus). The project has been supported by the local community, in particular the village mayor, Andreas Petevenos.
The initial pilot study of Arediou was made under the auspices of the Council for British Research in the Levant. We have also received funding from ASOR, the Society of Antiquaries, the Prehistoric Society, the Pantyfedwen Fund (University of Wales), and West Wales 2000 Ltd.
