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| Shillourokambos | |
|---|---|
| Name | Shillourokambos |
| Map type | Cyprus |
| Location | Larnaca District, Cyprus |
| Type | Neolithic settlement |
| Epochs | Aceramic Neolithic |
| Excavations | 1970s–1990s |
| Archaeologists | Claude Schaeffer, Paul Åström |
| Condition | Ruined |
Shillourokambos Shillourokambos is an Aceramic Neolithic archaeological site in the Larnaca District of Cyprus notable for providing early evidence of habitation, domestication, and cultural contacts in the Eastern Mediterranean. The site has produced material and bioarchaeological data that inform debates involving Near Eastern prehistory, island colonization, and the spread of agriculture across the Levant and Anatolia. Excavations and surveys have linked Shillourokambos to broader regional trajectories involving contemporaneous places and peoples.
Shillourokambos occupies a prominent place in discussions connecting Çatalhöyük, Jericho, Aşvan, Hacılar, and Byblos with island Neolithic phenomena, while references to Tell Abu Hureyra, Jerf el Ahmar, Khirokitia, Çayönü, and Ali Kosh appear in comparative studies. Scholars from institutions such as the British Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich have cited the site in relation to research by figures including Mortimer Wheeler, V. Gordon Childe, Gertrude Bell, Kathleen Kenyon, and Flinders Petrie. The site's assemblage is discussed alongside thematic work on Neolithic dispersal by authors affiliated with University College London, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Institute of Archaeology (Oxford), and Harvard University.
Initial identification and survey work near Shillourokambos engaged teams associated with the Department of Antiquities (Cyprus), Cyprus Archaeological Research Fund, and scholars working with the British School at Athens and the French School at Athens. Excavations in the 1970s and campaigns into the 1980s and 1990s involved archaeologists connected with Claude Schaeffer, Paul Åström, and collaborators from University of Liverpool, University of Edinburgh, University of Sheffield, and University of Helsinki. Fieldwork methodology drew on stratigraphic approaches promoted by practitioners like John Evans (archaeologist), Gordon Childe, and Vere Gordon Childe's intellectual descendants, and used typological comparisons with assemblages curated at the British Museum, National Museum of Cyprus, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Louvre. Conservation and publication efforts included contributions from teams at Getty Conservation Institute and archival repositories at Bodleian Libraries and Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Radiocarbon dating programs coordinated with laboratories such as Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Arizona Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility, and W. M. Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility placed Shillourokambos within an Aceramic Neolithic timeframe parallel to sequences at Khirokitia, Aetokremnos, Tell Sheikh Hassan, Tell Abu Hureyra, and Tell Halula. Chronologies referenced calibration curves from projects at IntCal, and comparative frameworks discussed links to phases recognized at Ubaid period sites, Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, and later Ceramic Neolithic layers seen at Larnaca, Paphos, Limassol, and Nicosia. Debates about maritime colonization cite models developed by researchers at University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of Haifa, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Architectural remains show dwelling forms that invite comparison with rectangular and circular constructions documented at Khirokitia, Çatalhöyük, Aşıklı Höyük, Tell Halaf, and Jericho. Settlement patterns and communal features reflect planning issues discussed by scholars affiliated with Institute of Archaeology (UCL), Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, and departments at University of Southampton and University of Sheffield. Excavated features include house foundations, hearths, storage pits, and plastered floors analogous to those published from Shanidar, Göbekli Tepe, Nevali Çori, and Aşıklı Höyük. Interpretations have been informed by spatial analyses used in studies at Monte Verde, Çatalhöyük, and Skara Brae.
The lithic, ceramic, and lithic-tool repertoires from the site have been compared to assemblages curated in collections at the British Museum, Louvre, Israel Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and National Museum of Denmark. Flaked stone implements show technology akin to blade and microlith traditions seen at Jericho, Tell Abu Hureyra, Çatalhöyük, Khirokitia, and Çayönü. Ground stone artifacts and worked bone parallel finds from Aşıklı Höyük, Kfar HaHoresh, Beidha, and Byblos. Ornamentation and worked shell items resonate with material from Cyprus Museum, British Museum, National Archaeological Museum (Athens), and Dublin Museum collections.
Bioarchaeological evidence addressed questions of early animal management and domestication paralleling debates about sheep, goat, cattle, and pig domestication discussed at Tell Abu Hureyra, Ain Ghazal, Çatalhöyük, Jericho, and Khirokitia. Faunal and botanical analyses conducted with laboratories at University of York, University of Cambridge, University of Copenhagen, and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology considered wild and domestic models echoed in studies of Ain Ghazal, Beidha, Yarim Tepe, and Tell Sabi Abyad. Stable isotope work linked to facilities at University of Oxford and University of Groningen contributed to reconstructions of diet, mobility, and resource procurement comparable to research at Çatalhöyük, Aşıklı Höyük, and Skara Brae.
Mortuary evidence from the site has been analysed in the context of burial traditions and secondary interment practices documented at Khirokitia, Aetokremnos, Jericho, Atapuerca, and Çatalhöyük. Osteological and funerary analyses were undertaken in collaboration with specialists at Natural History Museum (London), Smithsonian Institution, University of Cambridge Department of Archaeology, and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Interpretative frameworks drew on comparative work addressing ritual, social identity, and demographic patterns seen at Ain Ghazal, Çatalhöyük, Tell Abu Hureyra, and Khirokitia.
Category:Neolithic sites in Cyprus