The Italian Erimi Archaeological Project, on the island of Cyprus, is a research project of the University of Siena, in close collaboration with the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus. The Italian research programme, which is being active for over fifteen years, benefits from partnerships with local institutions, international research centres and the constant support of the Italina Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Italian Embassy in Nicosia.
The systematic investigation of the Middle Bronze Age community at Erimi (2000-1600 BC) has brought to light a central workshop complex devoted to textiles manufacturing located at the top of the hill on which also extends the residential quarter with living and household gathering spaces. A large funerary area with multiple burial clusters extends outside the settlement.
Among the recent results of field research conducted by the Italian expedition is the discovery of a shrine, a sacred space extending inside the textile workshop complex.
The shrine consists in a series of connected roofed spaces opened onto a courtyard. A dressed stone monolith roughly rounded off at the top and measuring 2.30 metres in height was recovered inside the largest room of this sacred compound. Once collapsed on the floor, the monolith destroyed a large amphora that must have originally stood at the foot of the erected dressed stone and in front of a circular hearth embedded in the same floor. The overall architectural layout and installations appear consistent with ritual performance and a possible sacred use of this peculiarly equipped space. The absence of parallels makes this shrine the earliest built sacred space found in Cyprus so far. Additionally, the ritual function and cultural value of this sacred space are of great significance due to its location within a production complex, whose activity economically supported and symbolically involved the entire community at Bronze Age Erimi.
An additional news of recent Italian research activity at Erimi is the evidence of an imposing settlement wall. Founded directly into the calcareous bedrock of the hill, this structure must have stood at least 2 metres high with a stone masonry plinth and an elevation of wood and clay that has not been preserved today. A stretch of 80 metres has been traced out belonging to this imposing wall that encompassed the entire settlement, segregating it from the extramural funerary area. The circuit wall constitutes an extraordinary building operation and an equally remarkable social initiative. At least two centuries before fortified urban centres emerged in Cyprus, the construction of the wall at Erimi reflects a collective commitment to the community, indicating the need for protection but, at the same time, expressing its cohesion and the desire to organise and ‘monumentalise’ common spaces. In sum, the imposing circuit wall is an expression of defence but also an evidence of ostentation by a community at the height of its economic growth.
