Were ancient Cypriots members of a cult?

Were people members of a cult 4,000 years ago in Bronze Age Cyprus, and did they use monoliths like the mysterious one found in Erimi? Is a skeleton with a bludgeoned skull related to about 20 others of the same era, possibly all young women found buried uncharacteristically within the walls of different settlements?

The Laonin tou Porakou site in Erimi, Limassol has added new evidence to our understanding of the Bronze Age – a radical era for societies transitioning to urban centres, Director of the Department of Antiquities Dr Giorgos Georgiou said.

The ritual site was described as a “temple before a temple,” by excavation leader Luca Bombardieri who added that it is “the oldest sacred space ever found on the island.” He also mentioned the discovery of the remains of a young woman who had been brutally killed and her home walled up.

The Italian mission has been excavating Laonin tou Porakou for the past 15 years, and Georgiou told the Cyprus Mail the digs have revealed the remains of a settlement, with parts interpreted as a workshop and others as a burial place.

“It is very important because radical changes were made in the organisational structure of society, marking the transition from village societies to urban centres,” he said.

Laonin tou Porakou is placed chronologically in the middle of the 1,500 year long Bronze Age period – around 2000 BC to around 1700 BC – and “provides evidence of this transition.”

Referring to the two findings that have captured the imagination – a ritual site and an uncharacteristic burial – Georgiou said they were not found in close proximity and should not be considered directly related.

“They are two separate findings at the excavation site. They are distant from each other. What is interpreted as the murder of a woman is not in the area of the monolith,” he explained.

He clarified that while it is correct to assume the site is 4,000 years old, using the term “temple” for the room where the monolith was found is not accurate. “It is best to refer to it as a ritual site.

The main finding that leads to such an interpretation is a long oblong slate found lying on the ground. It may have been erect. It is an area with architectural characteristics,” Georgiou said.

Referring to the burial, which has been labelled as the murder of a woman, and the speculation that it was one of many in Bronze Age Cyprus, Georgiou told the Cyprus Mail that not all such remains pointed to murder and not all are women.

“This burial has some different characteristics, which draw attention,” he said.

Regarding the specific burial, Georgiou said “during this era people buried their dead in extra mural burial sites, while this is a burial within the settlement.”

“The other difference is that there is an injury to the skull of the skeleton.”

Georgiou said it appears that the injury was sustained around the time of death, and the skeleton belongs to a person estimated to be under the age of 18, making it difficult to determine their gender.

“If we accept that it is a woman’s burial, we see that excavations have unearthed 20 such burials in Cyprus dated to the Bronze Age, in settlements in four different locations of this era,” he said. These burials share the common attribute of being within settlements.

“Of these 20, less than half have gender identification, and they are women. We do not have any evidence of murder,” he added. Thus, detailed publication of evidence is necessary before reaching more secure conclusions.

Speaking to the Italian news agency ANSA, Bombardieri described the ritual site as the “oldest sacred space ever found on the island.” Reports mentioned a 2.3-metre-tall monolith in the centre of the building that appears to have collapsed onto the floor, destroying a large amphora.

The team also “pulled up the remains of a young woman who had been brutally killed and her home walled up.”