Kastros is an early Neolithic settlement in Cyprus.

Location

It lies at the north-easternmost tip of the Karpasia Peninsula (

Cape Apostolos Andreas Cape Apostolos Andreas ( el, Ακρωτήριο Αποστόλου Ανδρέα, "Cape Saint Andrew"; tr, Zafer Burnu, "Cape Victory") is the north-easternmost point (promontory) of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus (). It lies at the tip of t ...

), about 4 km north of

Apostolos Andreas Monastery Apostolos Andreas Monastery ( el, Απόστολος Ανδρέας; tr, Apostolos Andreas Manastırı) is a monastery situated just south of Cape Apostolos Andreas, the north-easternmost point of the island of Cyprus, in Rizokarpaso in the K ...

. The settlement is situated on a little plateau at the steep flank of the limestone promontory, about halfway between the main plateau of the peninsula and the sea in a very inaccessible situation.

History of excavations

Between 1970 and 1973 three campaigns of excavations have been conducted by a French team headed by Alain Le Brun. The excavation was interrupted by the 1974 war in Cyprus. Today, the structures remain open to the sky and are slowly eroding.

Houses

The settlement consists of small round or roundish houses. Their diameter is between 2.5 and 2.8 m, which gives a living surface of between 5 and 6.8 m². The houses contain a hearth and sometimes container-bins in the floor. The walls are thin, composed of a single course of dry stone walling. Sometimes several of these are arranged around a common courtyard or stand on small platforms levelled into the hillside. Only one house has a more substantial wall (1.70 m thick) and the excavator thinks it might have had a function different from the rest of the structures.

Other structures

There are some small pits filled with charcoal and burned stones. It is believed they may have been used to prepare food or to smoke meat, in the manner of the Polynesian pit ovens or the Irish fulachtaí fia.

Burials

One burial was discovered in a shallow trapezoidal pit measuring 0.75x0.45 m. The body lay on the back, with flexed legs, the head to the northeast, the face turned to the southeast. This type of burial is known from

Khirokitia Khirokitia (sometimes spelled Choirokoitia; el, Χοιροκοιτία , suggested meaning ''Pig-cradle'', from 'pig, boar' + 'place of origin, cradle'; tr, Hirokitya) is an archaeological site on the island of Cyprus dating from the Neol ...

as well (group II). The burial was situated near a house, but at the outside, in contrast to Khirokitia, were all burials are situated inside the houses. The grave contained four small shells with drilled holes and one dentalium shell.

Dating

The site belongs to the

aceramic Aceramic is defined as "not producing pottery". In archaeology, the term means "without pottery". Aceramic societies usually used bark, basketry, gourds and leather for containers. It is sometimes used to refer to a specific early Neolithic period ...

Neolithic (

PPN B PPN may refer to: * Guillermo León Valencia Airport *Pre-Pottery Neolithic * Pinoleville Pomo Nation * Nigerien Progressive Party-African Democratic Rally, from the French acronym, ''Parti Progressiste Nigérien'' *Pandit Pran Nath * Pingat Pangkua ...

) and dates to the 6th Millennium BC. There are three radiocarbon dates from the site (uncalibrated):

Finds

The houses contain querns. Further finds include stone-vessels (shallow bowls and pots) and flint tools made from local flint from the Pentadaktylos mountains.

Economy

The carbonised remains of einkorn,

emmer Emmer wheat or hulled wheat is a type of awned wheat. Emmer is a tetraploid (4''n'' = 4''x'' = 28 chromosomes). The domesticated types are ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''dicoccum'' and ''Triticum turgidum ''conv.'' durum''. The wild plant is ...

and some barley have been found. The relatively high proportion of

rye-grass ''Lolium'' is a genus of tufted grasses in the bluegrass subfamily (Pooideae). It is often called ryegrass, but this term is sometimes used to refer to grasses in other genera. They are characterized by bunch-like growth habits. ''Lolium'' ...

(''Lolium'' sp.) has led van Zeist to suppose that it might not have been a weed, but grown as a crop. Among the pulses, lentils dominate, but peas,

vetch ''Vicia'' is a genus of over 240 species of flowering plants that are part of the legume family (Fabaceae), and which are commonly known as vetches. Member species are native to Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Some other ...

and

bitter vetch Bitter vetch is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * '' Vicia ervilia'', called bitter vetch or ervil, an ancient grain legume crop of the Mediterranean region. *'' Vicia orobus'', called wood-bitter vetch, a legume found in Atlanti ...

are represented as well.

Pistachio The pistachio (, ''Pistacia vera''), a member of the Anacardiaceae, cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces nut (fruit)#Culinary definition and uses, seeds that are widely consumed as f ...

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

s and olives, all of them wild forms, were part of the nutrition too.

Sources

*A. Le Brun, Cap Andreas – Kastros (Chypre). "Quelques resultats de la campagne de 1973." Paléorient 3, 1975/77, 305–310. * Julie Hansen, "Ancient Neolithic plant remains in Cyprus: Clues to their origins?" In: S. Swiny, ''The earliest prehistory of Cyprus. From Colonization to exploitation.'' Cyprus American archaeological research institute Monograph Series 2 (Boston American School of oriental research 2001), 119–128. {{coord missing, Cyprus Archaeological sites in Cyprus Former populated places in Cyprus