The Neolithic Settlement of Pyrgos-Agia Marina: interim report and preliminary analyses of the sections

This paper is a preliminary presentation of the large settlement which has been just recently discovered at Pyrgos-Agia Marina, thanks to intensive field survey, geophysical prospections and HD documentation of the sections left behind by mechanical terracing for construction works. The discovery of the larger section and of the other remains indicates the presence of an early, long-lived, nucleated settlement on the west bank of the Pyrgos river. The early deposits are very rich in cultural materials, particularly chipped stones and groundstones for grinding cereals. Occupation and midden deposits present quite abundant faunal remains belonging to different species. A complete absence of pottery is particularly interesting, suggesting that the stratified deposits may fall entirely within a Pre-Pottery phase of the Cypriot Neolithic. Small-scale geoarchaeological mapping of the area revealed that the Neolithic buildings were constructed on slope (fan) deposits a few meters above the ancient riverbed. A complete set of archaeological samples for radiocarbon dating was collected between 2020 and 2022 and dated through Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS); most of the radiocarbon dates obtained from two sections can be placed between 7547 cal BC and 6368 cal BC. The archaeobotanical and archaeozoological studies are at the moment still in progress and they both need further sampling and analyses for a clearer interpretation, but the preliminary results are already quite interesting. The study of the lithics at Agia Marina was undertaken both on in situ objects and on unstratified objects recovered at the base of the sections. Most of the material recorded in situ was made of opaque light brown/light red coloured chert (mainly Lefkara basal), often in the form of large flakes. Blades were present, including some of large size, whilst retouched tools were less common. The analysis of in situ lithics shows an interesting uneven distribution.