Karmi 2008: The Bronze Age Cemetaries at Palealona and Lapatsa Overview

Jennifer Webb

This grant will be for publication of the final report entitled Karmi: The Bronze Age Cemeteries at Palealona and Lapatsa in Cyprus. Excavations by J.R.B Stewart.

The Early and Middle Cypriot Bronze Age cemeteries at Lapatsa and Palealona are located at 35º19’ North, 33º15’ East, near the modern village of Karmi in the foothills of the Pentedaktylos range overlooking the narrow coastal plain on the north coast of Cyprus. They lie within several kilometers of major contemporary cemeteries at Bellapais Vounous and Lapithos Vrysi tou Barba, in part of the island which has been inaccessible to archaeologists since the Turkish invasion of 1974. Shortly before his death in 1962, Professor J.R.B. Stewart undertook excavations at these sites as part of a long-term program of research on the Early and Middle Cypriot periods. He cleared 13 dromoi and 15 chambers at Lapatsa and 14 dromoi and 19 chambers at Palealona. The material recovered ranges in date from Early Cypriot I to Middle Cypriot II. It includes over 900 ceramic vessels, figurines and other items in Red Polished, Black Polished and White Painted wares, 39 metal tools and weapons and skeletal remains.

Only one tomb group of particular importance has ever been published (J. Stewart, ‘The Tomb of the Seafarer at Karmi in Cyprus’, Opuscula Atheniensia IV (1962), 197–204). This tomb contained an imported Middle Minoan IIA Kamares Ware cup, providing a rare example of contact between Cyprus and Crete in the early 2nd millennium BCE and key cross-cultural evidence for dating. Also significant are carved features in the entrance shafts of several tombs, including a unique bas-relief human figure over one metre high in Palealona Tomb 6.

The Karmi sites are not only of significance for these unique features but also for the size and chronological range of their assemblages, which provide important evidence for ceramic production in one of the most densely settled and dynamic regions of the island in the late third and early second millennia BCE. Few undisturbed cemeteries remain on the island and intact assemblages are of considerable importance in understanding mortuary practices. The fact that Karmi lies within the occupied part of Cyprus, which is likely to remain inaccessible for years to come, provides an added imperative for the publication of existing assemblages from this region.

A 150 page single-spaced first draft has been prepared. It needs to be revised and updated and chapters on ceramics, skeletal remains and metal artefacts need to be written. Drawings and photographs need to be prepared. The printer-ready copy and digital form of the monograph will be ready one year from the time the grant begins. It will be published in the series Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology by Paul Åströms Förlag, Sävedalen, Sweden. Appended is a document regarding the legal right of the applicants to access and publish the material, a document assuring access to material in the Nicholson Museum, a budget and four academic resumes.