Preliminary Report on the 2008 EENC. Excavations at Agia Varvara-Asprokremmos and Regional Field Survey

Carole McCartney, Paul Croft, Sturt W. Manning & Sandra Rosendahl Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 2009 [2010]: 1-16.

From the Introduction

The following preliminary report provides results from the fourth field season of the EENC (Elaborating Early Neolithic Cyprus) project, an international collaboration between the University of Cyprus and Cornell University. An outline of the EENC research goals, survey and excavation methodologies together with previous results are documented elsewhere (McCartney et al. 2006, 2007, 2008). In 2008 fieldwork was conducted in two stages with survey taking place in June-July and excavation at the site of Agia Varvara-Asprokremmos conducted in December. The Project was joined in its efforts by a joint team from Ithaca College (under Michael Rogers) and Cornell University who conducted a preliminary resistivity survey at the site. Research efforts at Agia Varvara-Asprokremmos focused on answering questions of site size and preservation with the goal of providing a more detailed understanding of the character of the site. The goal of establishing an absolute chronological framework for the early Holocene has been developed with a set of radiocarbon dates confirming earlier suggestions that Agia Varvara-Asprokremmos represents an earlier phase of the Neolithic preceding the Cypro-PPNB. Field survey has added to both site and chert source data enabling the completion of preliminary site and chert source maps covering the entire survey area. Analysis of site character and the relationships between sites are beginning to provide a view of landscape utilization furnishing a more dynamic perspective on early Holocene Cyprus.