Shillourokambos

About

Shillourokambos (Greek: Σιλλουρόκαμπος) is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) site near Parekklisia, 6 km (3.7 mi) east of Limassol in southern Cyprus. It is located on a low plateau. Excavations began in 1992.

The settlement has four phases and was occupied from the end of the 9th millennium to the second half of the 8th millennium. The architecture of phases A and B (8200–7500 BC, calibrated) is characterised by circular wattle and daub structures, with post holes cut into the bedrock. Some deep pits may have served as wells.

Around 300 blades of Anatolian obsidian point to trade connections with the mainland. Sickles are made of multiple parts, and projectile points made of bipolar blades, lacking in the later Khirokitia culture, are common. The site contains wells and cattle enclosures as well.

The middle and late phases (7500 BC) conform more closely to the Khirokitia culture with circular stone houses, comparable to those at Kastros. Imported obsidian is rare, and sickles are made from single robust blades. The site is important because it attests to the presence of cattle in the aceramic Neolithic period.

Cattle died out in the course of the 8th millennium and were not reintroduced...