Abstract
AN exhibition of pottery of the Early Bronze Age at the Institute of Archaeology of the University of London was opened by the Earl of Athlone, Chancellor of the University, on March 10. This pottery was excavated at Vounous in Cyprus by an expedition sponsored by the British School of Archaeology at Athens and under the direction of Mr. James Stewart. The exhibition, as was pointed out by the Chancellor in declaring it open, is the first to be held in England of the results of an important excavation of purely British origin in Cyprus; and this fact is indeed of special significance in view of the attempts which have been, and are being, made to arouse interest in Great Britain in the early history and antiquities of Cyprus. The cost of the excavation was defrayed by subscription, among the principal subscribers being the University of Cambridge, Sir Charles Hyde, and Sir Charles Marston. The last-named has presented the main part of the finds allotted to him to the Institute of Archaeology, and they form the nucleus of the present exhibition with supplementary loans from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and the Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery. After the exhibition had been declared open Mr. Stewart gave an account of the site and its excavation. The Vounous site is a cemetery on the east and north sides of a low hill in the foothills of the Kyrenia Mountains. The north side had already been excavated by Dr. Dikaios, and the present work was confined to the east side. The tombs are open caves approached from a forecourt. Burial is in a contracted position, with burial gifts of pottery and food. The entrance was sealed with a single stone and covered in. Sometimes graves had been opened by an iron age grave-digger, who had again sealed the tomb after inserting a votive offering, with, as Mr. Stewart said, “confusing effect”. The chronology of the site falls into three periods, dated tentatively from 2900–2500 B.C., 2500–2300 B.C. and 2300–2050 B.C.
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Exhibition of Cypriote Antiquities. Nature 143, 465 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143465a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/143465a0