Related News
Ancient water well unearthed
Source: Agencies |
June 25, 2009, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered a water well in Cyprus that was built as long as 10,500 years ago, and the skeleton of a young woman at the bottom of it, an official said yesterday.
Pavlos Flourentzos, the nation's top antiquities official, said the 5-meter-deep cylindrical shaft was found last month at a construction site in Kissonerga, a village near the Mediterranean island nation's southwestern coast.
After the well dried up it apparently was used to dispose of trash, and the items found in it included the poorly preserved skeleton of the young woman, plus animal bone fragments, worked flints, stone beads and pendants from the island's early Neolithic period, Flourentzos said.
The skeleton could be as old as the well itself, but archaeologists don't know how the girl died or when and why the skeleton was left there, he said. Radiocarbon dating found the well is between 9,000 and 10,500 years old, he said.
That was around the time migrating humans started to build permanent settlements on the island. Before then, temporary settlements were inhabited by sea-borne migrants using Cyprus as a way station to other destinations.
Thomas Davis, director of the Nicosia-based Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, said the well - which he called "among the earliest in the world" - offers proof of the "high level of sophistication" of the island's early Neolithic farmers.
"The fact that they were using wells and that they tapped into the island's water table shows heightened appreciation for the environment here," said Davis, who was not involved in the discovery. "This was a major investment."
Cypriot archaeologists studied the well in collaboration with Edinburgh University, in the United Kingdom.
Pavlos Flourentzos, the nation's top antiquities official, said the 5-meter-deep cylindrical shaft was found last month at a construction site in Kissonerga, a village near the Mediterranean island nation's southwestern coast.
After the well dried up it apparently was used to dispose of trash, and the items found in it included the poorly preserved skeleton of the young woman, plus animal bone fragments, worked flints, stone beads and pendants from the island's early Neolithic period, Flourentzos said.
The skeleton could be as old as the well itself, but archaeologists don't know how the girl died or when and why the skeleton was left there, he said. Radiocarbon dating found the well is between 9,000 and 10,500 years old, he said.
That was around the time migrating humans started to build permanent settlements on the island. Before then, temporary settlements were inhabited by sea-borne migrants using Cyprus as a way station to other destinations.
Thomas Davis, director of the Nicosia-based Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, said the well - which he called "among the earliest in the world" - offers proof of the "high level of sophistication" of the island's early Neolithic farmers.
"The fact that they were using wells and that they tapped into the island's water table shows heightened appreciation for the environment here," said Davis, who was not involved in the discovery. "This was a major investment."
Cypriot archaeologists studied the well in collaboration with Edinburgh University, in the United Kingdom.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
