The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2014. Excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke. Preliminary results

Abstract

Abstract**The initial aim of the project-the search for the oldest city of Hala Sultan Tekke-continued in 2014. Geophysical methods were used, which led to the discovery of new city quarters, and a broadening of the research objectives, to include revealing the total extent of the city. The GPR survey indicated a huge stone compound of at least 50 m × 40 m to the west of a probable street. Excavations continued in Area 6 West, where in 2013 a domestic and industrial compound was excavated as part of a hitherto unknown city quarter. The 2014 field work exposed stone-built structures and rich find contexts with locally made and imported pottery, numerous tools and several items of gold and silver jewellery. The violent destruction of the most recent layer of occupation, Stratum 1, which had been observed during previous seasons, was once again confirmed. Another georadar and magnetic survey west of the mosque of Hala Sultan Tekke indicated numerous circular anomalies. Five of these were excavated and turned out to be four wells and an offering pit. One of the wells was reused for human burials. Another well contained the skeleton of an equid, a complete bull figurine and a cylinder seal of haematite.

Geophysical survey in archaeological context: A review from Cyprus

“…Architectural remains started to appear in the GPR depth‐slice images at a depth of approximately 30 cm below the surface extending down to at least 100‐cm depth. The magnetic survey realized in 2014 (Fischer et al, 2015; Trinks, 2015; Trinks et al, 2013) suggested that the concentration of a number of circular anomalies might be related to a large prehistoric cemetery having an extent of at least 4500m 2 . A strong magnetic anomaly has been linked to a possible oven or kiln and associated with a slag pile.…”

Late Bronze Age Metal Exploitation and Trade: Sardinia and Cyprus

“…[13,16,23,145,146] Most relevant in size is the area in the so-called City Quarter 2, in which a pit with over 300 kg of material related to copperworking, including slags, fragments of copper and bronze, parts of furnace walls and crucibles, was found. [146] The presence in relation to these areas of an extraordinary doughnut-shaped bronze ingot [14,146,147] and an unusual, seemingly rectangular lead ingot [29,147] suggest that an original, but still to be understood, production of metal might have taken place there. Metallographic and lead isotope analyses on a selection of metal samples from the current Swedish-Cyprus expedition [147] confirm earlier studies [75,106] showing that copper arrived to Hala Sultan Tekke not only from different Cypriot districts, but also from outside the island.…”

“…Over the years, the investigations at the site of Hala Sultan Tekke have provided many interesting features and finds. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Hala was an urban settlement of considerable size and wealth, with a strategic position close to the sea, and a natural harbor, which had roughly the contour of today's local salt lake. The excavations at the site revealed, among other things, striking evidence of varied craft production, [18,[23][24][25][26] including metalworking of consistent scale.…”

“…The excavations at the site revealed, among other things, striking evidence of varied craft production, [18,[23][24][25][26] including metalworking of consistent scale. [13,14,16,17,[27][28][29] In addition to the settlement, an extra-urban necropolis has also been detected. [9,[14][15][16]30] The discovery of Nuragic tableware from Hala Sultan Tekke arrives as a welcome addition to a long-lived debate on the character of the specific connections between Sardinia and Cyprus.…”

“…[13,14,16,17,[27][28][29] In addition to the settlement, an extra-urban necropolis has also been detected. [9,[14][15][16]30] The discovery of Nuragic tableware from Hala Sultan Tekke arrives as a welcome addition to a long-lived debate on the character of the specific connections between Sardinia and Cyprus. Despite diverging positions, [31] the new finds provide strong evidence for the idea of a distinctive and intensive relationship between Cyprus and Sardinia.…”