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04/07/11
Excavations are now complete and the team is in the planning stages for studies and publication.
Overview
Near the celebrated temple of Aphrodite at Palaepaphos in southwest Cyprus is an equally remarkable prehistoric complex with similar claims to be a ritual centre. Souskiou consists of four contemporary cemeteries and an associated settlement of c. 3000 BC. Since the 1950s, the cemeteries have yielded striking objects including a vast number of cruciform female figurines. Following extensive plundering, scientific excavations of the cemeteries in the 1990s and early 2000s have confirmed their special status in Cypriot prehistory. With the completion of the field investigations of the cemeteries , a University of Edinburgh - Lemba Archaeological Research Centre project began excavation of the settlement in 2005 with the support of the Cyprus Department of Antiquities.
The aim of the project is to provide insights into the role of a unique centre within small-scale prehistoric communities that coincidentally or otherwise shares features with its illustrious nearby successor. The Souskiou complex is bisected by a ravine formed by the Vathyrkakas stream. Three cemeteries, including Souskiou-Vathyrkakas, lie on the south side of this ravine, the Souskiou-Laona settlement and cemetery on a narrow ridge to the north.