Archaeologists Discovered a 4,000-Year-Old Toppled Monolith. How It Fell Is a Mystery.
A toppled 4,000-year-old monolith was found at a “sacred site” on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
Experts believe the new discovery at the Erimi archeological site offers the oldest sacred place on the island.
The 7.5-foot-tall monolith, completely smooth save for a motif, likely originated in the Bronze Age.
At some point in the last 4,000 years, an ancient 7.5-foot-tall monolith on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus could no longer stand on its own, and toppled to the floor. Experts that have studied the aftermath have declared the site the oldest sacred location ever found on the island.
While crews scoured the remains of the archaeological site of Erimi, a prehistoric settlement atop a limestone terrace near the south coast of the island, they discovered the remains of a large room featuring a monolith more than 7.5 feet tall. The tower is completely smooth and has a motif in the center consisting of a circular pattern of cups.
The room—and monolith—are dated to the Middle Bronze Age, roughly 4,000 years ago.
But the tall artifact couldn’t fully stand the test of time. “The monolith, which originally stood in the center of the room, collapsed onto the floor and destroyed a large amphora placed at its feet in front of a small circular hearth,” Luca Bombardieri, scientific director of the Erimi Italian Archaeological Project from the University of Siena, Italy, said in a translated statement.
“During the Middle Bronze age [around 2000-1600 BC] a community of artisans chose to settle on the Erimi hill and build a community living space with very particular characteristics,” Bombardieri said in the statement.
The new discovery, found in the western wing of the artisan complex, opens new views on what the area was used for.
“The internal space of this room was thus free to circulate around the monolith, the amphora, and the hearth, which occupied the central part,” Bombardieri said. “The peculiarities of this space, especially when compared to the spaces surrounding [it], indicate that it is a small sacred space, the oldest attested on this island, with an interesting cultural function precisely because it is located within the complex.”
Bombardieri believes the site has ritual function and ideological values that offer “particular significance.”
“The activity that supported the community economically also involved its members ideologically and symbolically,” he said.
Cyprus is a former British colony, independent since 1960 but considered a key connection point between Europe, Africa, and Asia. Its ancient origins include a mix of communities living in various locations on the 3,500-square-mile island. The site at Erimi provided more than just a unique discovery, Bombardieri told Italian site ANSA, according to a translation, potentially linking Erimi to a violent tradition found elsewhere on Cyprus.
The team discovered an example of a young woman, likely no older than 20 years of age, being buried inside her own home, walled inside and with a large stone on the corpse likely to help stop her spirit from tormenting those in town. This woman also had a smashed skull. While it’s the first example in the Erimi area, Bombardieri said at least 15 other cases of the remains of young women from this period have been found buried in this way across the island, meaning Erimi “may be linked to other cases recorded in the past in other parts of Cyprus.”
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