In Volume One we published the results of the three excavation campaigns
conducted on the port of Amathus and the light shed by these results on
the history of this sunken monument (Etudes Chypriotes XIX). Here
we shall present in two distinct sections the archaeological material
that was revealed during the excavations (1984-1986). First, we shall
study the artefacts discovered in the harbour basin: pottery, amphorae
and metallic objects dating from the Early Hellenistic period (end of
4th and beginning of 3rd century BC). The second section covers the
material found in freshwater wells that were dug during the Late Roman
era in the northern part of the harbour basin, which was then above sea
level. As regards the pottery, including sakieh jars and other pottery
fragments from the upper to the lower layers of the wells, as well as
the amphorae, the ensemble uniformly displays features of the end of the
6th - beginning of the 7th century AD, linked to artisanal activities in
the lower part of the town which was abandoned by its inhabitants a few
decades before the arrival of the Arabs. The metallic material presents,
in a similar fashion to that of the Hellenistic era, a variety of
fishing gear, while the ensemble of animal bones provides us with a rare
picture of the fauna that was present on Cyprus in the Late Roman
period. Lastly, the analyses conducted on wood from the sakiehs reveals
the use of tree species that grew in the region at that time, and
14C dating of the wood fragments confirms the dating proposed
by the ceramologists.
Apres avoir livre dans le
volume 1 les resultats des trois campagnes de la fouille du port
d'Amathonte et leurs consequences sur l'histoire de ce monument submerge
(Etudes Chypriotes XIX), nous presentons ici le materiel mis au
jour lors de la fouille (1984-1986) en deux parties distinctes : tout
d'abord, les artefacts decouverts dans le bassin du port, ceramiques,
amphores, objets metalliques, datant de la haute epoque hellenistique,
fin du IVe siecle ou debut IIIe siecle avant J.-C. La seconde partie
concerne le materiel provenant des puits creuses a l'epoque romaine
tardive dans la partie nord du bassin du port, alors hors d'eau : dans
la ceramique, des godets de sakieh et des frag-ments de ceramique qui
recollent depuis les couches superieures jusqu'au fond des puits, tout
comme pour les amphores, l'ensemble donnant un facies homogene de la fin
du VIe - debut du VIIe siecle apres J.-C., certainement lie aux
activites artisanales dans la partie basse de la ville abandonnee de ses
habitants, quelques decennies avant l'arrivee des Arabes. Le materiel
metallique offre, comme pour la periode hellenistique, une panoplie
d'instruments de peche et l'ensemble des os animaux permet de dresser un
des rares tableaux de la faune presente a Chypre a l'epoque romaine
tardive. Enfin, l'analyse du bois des sakiehs montre l'emploi des
especes poussant dans la region a cette periode, la datation par le
14C des fragments ligneux confirmant la datation proposee par
les ceramologues.
