Nicosia: The Department of Antiquities has announced the successful completion of the 2025 excavation season of the French archaeological mission at Kition-Bamboula, revealing a room and its contents dating back to the Cypro-Archaic period.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the excavation focused on a trench located northwest of the site, where previous campaigns had unveiled a large pit. This pit, originally dug and filled during the late Classical period (4th century BCE), was the center of attention as archaeologists aimed to further explore its depth and width. The mission sought to assess the impact of massive earthworks from the Classical period, such as pits and leveling works, and to continue uncovering remnants of earlier occupations in the area.
The southern extension of the excavation revealed another looter’s trench, with both trenches being long and deep, cutting through earlier structures. Despite this, the lower courses of these structures were preserved beneath the pit’s bottom. To the south, a wall made of mudbricks and pebbles, possibly a later reconstruction, was also preserved.
The Antiquities Department’s press release noted that in the center of the excavated area, between the looter’s trenches, partial preservation of Classical period floor levels was evident, with several phases identified. Notably, the excavation did not reach beyond the Classical period in this central area. However, Archaic floor levels and walls were discovered to the east and north, where a room was found with its southern limit cut by a looter’s trench. The eastern and northern limits of the room were well-preserved, marked by stone walls supporting a mudbrick elevation.
Archaeologists uncovered several ceramic containers within the room, including imported Phoenician commercial amphoras and locally made Plain White amphoras and jugs, alongside a Bichrome barrel-jug. The containers were notably arranged, with three lying against the northern wall and three standing against the eastern wall. Among these, two Phoenician amphoras were found upside down, missing their bottom and upper parts. The room and its contents, confidently dated to the Cypro-Archaic period (8th-7th centuries BCE), represent the oldest remains discovered in the sector to date, as highlighted in the press release.