Landscape Archaeology and Sacred Space in the Eastern Mediterranean: A Glimpse from Cyprus

Abstract

Abstract:This article aims to raise issues for discussion about the change in the use and concept of sacred landscapes, which were originally constructed in the era of the Cypriot kings (the basileis), but then continued to function in a new imperial environment, that of the rule of the Ptolemaic strategos and later of the Roman proconsul and the various Christian bishops. Our archaeological survey project in the Xeros river valley, titled 'Settled and Sacred Landscapes of Cyprus', reveals that these new politico-economic structures were also supported by the construction of symbolically charged sacred landscapes. Thus, while outlining the long history of the island as manifested from the diachronic study of Cypriot sacred landscapes, we identify three pivotal phases: first, the consolidation of the Cypriot polities and the establishment of a 'full' sacred landscape; second, the transition from segmented to unitary administration under the Ptolemaic and Roman imperial rule and the consolidation of a more 'unified sacred landscape'; and finally, the establishment of a number of Christian bishoprics on the island and the movement back to a 'full' sacred landscape. Moving beyond the discipline of Cypriot archaeology, this contribution aims to serve as a paradigm for the implications that the employment of the 'sacred landscapes' concept may have when addressing issues of socio-political and socio-economic transformations. While it is very difficult to define or capture the concept of landscape in a pre-modern world, it offers a useful means by which to assess changing local conditions. We have also attempted to situate the term in archaeological thought, in order to allow the concept to become a more powerful investigative tool for approaching the past.

The River as an Economic Asset: Settlement and Society in the Xeros Valley in Cyprus

“…The river creates a fertile valley along its way, where people from antiquity to this day used a canalisation system to water their orchards. Preliminary GIS mapping of the agricultural soils and settlement activity [7] (Figure 2) has shown that the main settlements lie in the middle of less fertile soils; this should probably be seen as a very wise choice on behalf of its inhabitants, making use of less productive areas for their settlements' built space, as well as for less demanding cultivations, such as vegetable gardens and olive groves or as pasture land. In addition, the region immediately north of the Xeros River valley is within the copper zone of the Troodos ophiolite ( Figure 3); however, the good quality mines (pillow lavas and basal group formations richer in copper) are actually located on the other side of the Troodos Mountain range at Mathiatis, as evidenced also by the archaeological evidence [4] (p. 543, figure 1).…”

“…In the context of the Unlocking Sacred Landscapes of Cyprus (UnSaLa-CY) project, we have argued on several occasions that extra-urban sanctuaries may have played a significant role in the territorialisation (a process related to the control of the extra-urban space) of the various city-kingdoms [7] ( [4] with earlier references), [60]. The sanctuary sites of Pyrga, Mathiatis, and Lythrodontas, should be associated with the destiny of the polities of Idalion and Kition.…”

“…The gravitation of people towards coastal cities was of greater historical significance. Several archaeological surveys on the island have noted a busy Hellenistic and early Roman countryside, followed by a general contraction from the second through the fourth centuries AD [7] (with references) [76] (with references). Evidence of Severan prosperity, which is often taken to represent the apogee of Roman Cyprus, is overwhelmingly urban and may have come about at the expense of the countryside [76].…”

Central Place Theory Reloaded and Revised: Political Economy and Landscape Dynamics in the Longue Durée

“…Even more interestingly, the study of 'sacred' landscapes has by now become another prominent field of landscape research, mainly in Northwest Europe and North America, by paying attention to the ideational dimensions of sacred mountains and hills, burial monuments and grave markers, sanctuaries, temples and churches [113][114][115]. As we have explained elsewhere [20], the term 'sacred landscapes' has been chosen in acknowledgement of the inspiration provided by the published work of Susan Alcock [116][117][118]. By using this term in her examination of the Hellenistic and Roman sacred landscapes of the Greek world, Alcock shows that the relationship between religion, politics, identity and memory was more intimate and more involved than has often been assumed [118][119][120].…”

“…Moving away from model-bounded approaches, central place theory is used here more flexibly to include all the places that may have functioned as spaces of economic or ideological centrality (even in a local context) in the past, including urban centres, agro-towns, countryside settlements, burial and ritual topoi. The idea of this volume derives from the methodological and theoretical frameworks we employ when approaching landscape phenomena and archaeological evidence from the Xeros River valley in Cyprus, in the framework of our Settled and Sacred Landscapes of Cyprus (SeSaLaC) archaeological project [20][21][22]. Given that landscape archaeology and intensive field-survey methodologies have evolved, providing more spatial, functional and chronological detail about the archaeological record for a given region, combined with a constant revision and refinement of ceramic chronologies, settlement archaeology and pottery distributions prove accurate tools for the exploration of landscape transformations and settlement systems.…”