Excerpt: Cyprus Excavation

Day 6: 7/3/25

Today we had a full day on site. I began my morning where I left off yesterday. It has taken me two days, but I have finally figured out the difference between the limestone plaster floor and the surrounding soil as well as the mud plaster floor and a mud plaster floor rich in limestone deposits. The posthole I was investigating yesterday turned out to be a dead end. Now we think it may actually be larger than a posthole. I’ve been revealing quite a bit of limestone plaster in a semi-circle that is likely to be the edge of a larger pit feature. By the end of the day we were sure this was the edge of a pit.

When we got back to the school at which we are staying we had a lecture on groundstone tools and began washing the pottery finds from the day. As that process was finishing up Rafael and Ellon started an experimental archaeology project creating pottery from local clay. I helped to crush the clay material they sourced from the local area using the same tyopes of groundstone tools found in the late Bronze Age from about 1600 ~ 1050 BCE. We then put the crushed clay into buckets and then added water on top. Now the buckets are to sit for 7-10 days stirring it 1-2 times per day. Once most of the water has been absorbed by the clay, we will discard the excess water and try to mold and fire the pottery on an open flame. Success to be determined…