Swedish Excavations at Sinda, Cyprus: Excavations Conducted by Arne Furumark 1947-1948
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Description
When Arne Furumark was entrusted with writing the Late Bronze Age summary volume for the Swedish Cyprus Expedition, he realized that a habitation site was needed in order to clarify problems associated with the last phases of that period. As neither the French nor the Cypriote excavations at Enkomi had yet been published he decided to find his own site: he scouted several, but settled on Sinda because recent illicit digging there had thrown up sherds of a sort never before seen on the Island, namely Mycenaean IIIC1b. He conducted two short excavation seasons but the control excavation he planned was aborted when he received notice from the Cypriote authorities that there was large scale destruction of the site. Although there is evidence of earlier and later habitation at Sinda, the most important is the Late Bronze Age fortified town (probably built along the copper trading route), with its three phases: Sinda I, II, and III.
Sinda I, which saw the building of the defense system and had a material culture including local Cypriote wares as well as examples of Mycenaean IIIB, suffered major destruction. Sinda II followed: Structures were repaired and built, and were accompanied by a rich material culture including Mycenaean IIIC1a and great quantities of locally produced, early IIIC1b materials. A second catastrophe brought an end to that town. Sinda III followed, a poorer town, but with examples of locally produced, developed IIIC1b wares of the Close Style. Furumark's interpretation that the two destructions were brought about first by Greek settlers and then by Sea Peoples has been challenged by more recent archaeological evidence which lowers the date of Mycenaean IIIB. Paul Astrom, in his summary suggests a reasonable alternative, that pirates and adventurers were responsible for the destructions. -- Provided by publisher
Keywords
Excavations (Archaeology) -- Cyprus; Cyprus -- Antiquities;
Document Type
Book
ISBN
9789179160463
Publication Date
2003
Publisher
Paul Aaströms Förlag
City
Stockholm
Department
Department of Art
Object Description
177 p., [62] p. of plates : ill. ; 30 cm. + 4 folded leaves
Language
en
Recommended Citation
Furumark, Arne and Adelman, Charles M., "Swedish Excavations at Sinda, Cyprus: Excavations Conducted by Arne Furumark 1947-1948" (2003). Faculty Book Gallery. 185.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/facbook/185
