Shillourokambos, sometimes called Parekklisha-Shillourokambos, is a large (ca 3-4 ac) PrePottery Neolithic B (PPNB) site located just outside Limassol on the island of Cyprus, about five kilometers (3 miles) from the coast and near the town of Parekklisha. The island of Cyprus has never been attached to the mainland, and today it lies 69 km (43 mi) from the coast of Turkey and about 75 km (45 mi) from the Syrian coast. Although poorly preserved, Shillourokambos includes evidence for numerous ditches, wells and circular wattle and daub structures, dated between 9500-8200 radiocarbon years ago (RCYBP), or 10,500–9,000 calendar years ago (cal BP).
Excavated between 1992 and 2004 by a French team led by Jean Guilaine, the site has produced tens of thousands of stone artifacts and animals bones, providing early evidence for domestic pig, sheep, goat, dog and cat, as well as wheat and barley agro-pastoralism.
Chronology at Shillourokambos
- Early PPNB: ca 9310 RCYBP (10,500 cal BP), post molds suggest circular houses and a long, sinuous ditch, lithic artifacts of local chert and important obsidian, bipolar reduction, wild pig dominant food
- Middle PPNB: 8825-8655 RCYPB (10,000-10,200 cal BP), thick midden deposits, several obsidian flakes and a wooden sickle found, fallow deer dominant food source, about 10% cattle
- Late PPNB: 8125 RCYBP (9025 cal BP), large circular to oval wells with thick walls were constructed, sheep and goat dominates foodstuffs
Faunal and Floral Remains
Animals brought to the island, presumably in a domestic state, include pig, sheep, goat, cattle, dog and cat: in fact, Shillourokambos contains the earliest discovery of domestic cat anywhere, and the earliest wild boar and goat management to date as well.
Cats are known from several sites dated to the PPNB and later on Cyprus, although there is no evidence of any native felid species. Thus, it is inarguable that cats were brought to the island with the PPNB colonizers, beginning about 9500 years ago. A cat burial was identified at the site, lying only 40 centimeters (16 inches) from a human grave. Grave goods from the human burial included polished stone axes, ochre and marine shells. The skeleton of an 9-month old cat (Felis silvestris cf lybica) was discovered nearby, in a deliberately dug pit. Radiocarbon dates taken on the cat skeleton returned 8300-8200 RCYBP (9300-9110 cal BP).
Persian fallow deer, house mice, foxes and wild boar have all been identified in the deposits from several PPN sites on Cyprus, including Shillourokambos. None are native to Cyprus, and must have been brought to the island ca 10,400 cal BP, and, at least in the deer and wild boar case, their existence on Cyprus represents early management of these non-domesticated animals. Goat may also have been managed in this manner. Details concerning the mammal domestication processes in evidence at Shillourokambos are discussed in Vigne et al. 2011. They argue for a level of agro-pastoralism on Cyprus, as a counterpoint to mainland breeding experiments.
Wild barley and emmer wheat are in evidence within the earliest occupations, although whether domesticated or not is questionable. By the middle PPNB, domestic barley is present at the site.
Architecture, Lithics and a Sculpted Head
Among the anomalies of the site were striking quantities of obsidian from volcanic deposits near the Anatolian PPNB sites of Gollu Dag and Nenezi Dag. Lithic tool production was focused on naviform (boat-shaped) cores with bipolar reduction sequences, similar to Levantine PPNB sites.
Several cylindrical structures, with diameters between 0.8 and 1 m (3-4 ft) and some up to 4-5 m (14-16 ft) deep, have been identified within the late PPNB occupations, dated between ca 8200 and 7500 RCYBP (8350-9130 cal BP, and are interpreted by researchers as wells.
One well, Structure 66, is oval rather than circular, with a maximum diameter of 80 cm (32 in) and at least 2.5 m (8 ft) deep. The walls were constructed of unmortared stones of various sizes, dominated by pebble beds of 10-15 cm (4-6 in), but with sections including stones of between 30-40 cm (12-16 in) on the longest side. This structure contained a sculpture of the head of a half-human, half-feline individual.
The face on the sculpture has pointed ears, arched eyebrows, rectangular eyes, triangular nose, wide cheeks and a protruding chin. There is a nose but no mouth; and the neck is quite as thick as the head itself. The sculpture was made of a local serpentine, and the face was sculpted and polished, although the neck was not finished, suggesting to researchers that it was embedded in the wall, with the face protruding outwards.
After abandonment, a large block of stone was placed in the bottom and the well was back-filled with midden material. Excavators have been unable to get beneath the large block.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to PrePottery Neolithic, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Croft PW. 2002. Game management in early prehistoric Cyprus. Zeitschrift für Jagdwissenschaft 48(0):172-179.
Guilaine J. 2000. Tête sculptée dans le Néolithique pré-céramique de Shillourokambos (Parekklisha, Chypre). Paleorient 26:137-142.
Guilaine J, Gratuze B, and Briois F. 1997. Obsidiennes du site néolithique précéramique de Shillourokambos (Chypre). Paleorient 23(1):95-112.
Guilaine J, Briois F, Coularou J, Devèze P, Philibert S, Vigne J-D, and Carrère I. 1998. Shillourokambos (Chypre). Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 122(2):603-610.
Guilaine J, Briois F, Coularou J, Vigne J-D, and Carrère I. 1997. Shillourokambos (Chypre). Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 121(2):825-830.
Guilaine J, Briois F, Vigne J-D, Carrère I, Chazelles C-AD, Collonge J, Gazzal H, Gérard P, Haye L, Manen C et al. 2002. L'habitat néolithique pré-céramique de Shillourokambos (Parekklisha, Chypre). Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 126(2):590-597.
Guilaine J, Coularou J, Briois F, and Carrère I. 1995. Le site néolithique de Shillourokambos (Chypre). Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 119(2):737-741.
Vigne J-D, Carrère I, Briois F, and Guilaine J. 2011. The Early Process of Mammal Domestication in the Near East: New Evidence from the Pre-Neolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic in Cyprus. Current Anthropology 52(S4):S255-S271.
Vigne J-D, Guilaine J, Debue K, Haye L, and Gérard P. 2004. Early Taming of the Cat in Cyprus. Science 304(2668):259.
Vigne J-D, Zazzo A, Saliège J-F, Poplin F, Guilaine J, and Simmons A. 2009. Pre-Neolithic wild boar management and introduction to Cyprus more than 11,400 years ago. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(38):16135-16138.
Willcox G. 2000. Présence des céréales dans le Néolithique précéramique de Shillourokambos à Chypre : résultats de la campagne 1999. Paleorient 26:129-135.
