Figurine Makers of Prehistoric Cyprus: Settlement and Cemeteries at Souskiou

During the Chalcolithic period in Cyprus, excavations at Souskiou Laona revealed complex multi-stage burial practices with arrangements of disarticulated and articulated burials accompanied by a rich variety of grave goods, including cruciform figurines and pendants. This unusual treatment of the dead shifts the focus from the individual to the communal and provides evidence for significant changes involving kinship group links to common ancestors. The settlement also functioned as a specialized center for the procurement and manufacture of picrolite during its early phase, which declined in production and led to the earliest known occurrence of new types of ornaments.

Format: Hardback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 25 July 2019
Publisher: Oxbow Books

The Chalcolithic period in Cyprus has been extensively studied since the 1930s, thanks to the excavations conducted by Porphyrios Dikaios at Erimi. This period has also been marked by the appearance of illicitly acquired anthropomorphic cruciform figures, often crafted from picrolite, a soft blue-green stone. However, the excavations at the settlement and cemetery at Souskiou Laona provide a different perspective on life on the island during the late 4th and early 3rd millennia BC.

Burial practices at other known sites in Cyprus typically involve single inhumations in intramural pit graves, with only occasional artifacts. At Souskiou, however, multiple inhumations were interred in deep rock-cut tombs clustered in extra-mural cemeteries. Despite extensive looting, excavations have revealed complex multi-stage burial practices with arrangements of disarticulated and articulated burials accompanied by a rich variety of grave goods. Chief among these are numerous cruciform figurines and pendants, which represent an unusual treatment of the dead that has not been documented elsewhere in Cyprus.

This unique burial practice shifts the focus from the individual to the communal, providing evidence for significant changes involving kinship group links to common ancestors. The excavations at the Laona settlement have also furnished evidence suggesting that it functioned as a specialized center for the procurement and manufacture of picrolite during its early phase. The subsequent decline of picrolite production and the earliest known occurrence of new types of ornaments, such as faience beads and copper spiral pendants, attest to important changes involving the transformation of personal and social identities during the first centuries of the 3rd millennium BC.

This final report on the Chalcolithic period in Cyprus explores these developments in greater detail, shedding light on the social, economic, and cultural changes that occurred during this crucial period in Cypriot history.

Weight: 2120g
Dimension: 216 x 305 x 35 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781789250190