The MBA-LBA I period in the Kourion region : new evidences from Erimi- Laonin tou Porakou (Lemesos, Cyprus)

The evidence from Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou within the Kouris valley settlement system can offer further new data to outline a picture of the development trends from MBA to LBA I periods in the Kourion region. As to this area, such a “transitional” phase could be particularly relevant to better understand the development process of the mature LBA II–III urban centers (in Alassa as well as the most recent discovered in Erimi-Pitharka). In 2008–2009 a focus investigation (an intensive survey, geoperspections and excavations) within the Kouris Valley Project has been addressed to the site of Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou, which lies on one of the highest hilltops facing southward the Kouris dam. The excavations evidenced a double circuit wall which surrounds the top mound and the lower terrace. The top mound (Area A) has been widely occupied by a complex workshop, directly linked with a storage area. The natural limestone bedrock has been worked out to arrange a system of carved deep basins connected each other by a series of flow channels. Southward from the workshop, a large storage area has been cleared, with a relevant assemblage of big pithoi and storage devices. The first lower terrace area (Area B) has been possibly occupied by a domestic quarter; a cemetery area (Area E) has been also evidenced outside the external circuit wall, where a series of five rock-cut tombs (Tombs 228– 232) with single chamber and small incoming dromoi has been excavated.