Chipped Stone Artifacts from the Pond Sediments in Area

Fig. 23. Chipped stone artifacts from the pond sediments in Area 3. 1: Drill; 2; sickle blade; 3: Type 1 flake; 4: crested blade flake; 5: snapped blade; 6: Type 2 flake (drawn and inked by C. D’Annibale).

Testing of the pond area revealed similar intact chipped stone discard/reduction patterns. A total of 132 chipped stone artifacts were recovered from the in situ strata corresponding to the pond sediments. Compared with the abundance of chipped stone found in colluvial fans and gullies covering the site, this is a relatively small sample. These offer a glimpse, however, of what may be the only undisturbed and best represented assemblage on site (fig. 23).

Material disposed into the pond, intentionally or not, would remain buried within the sediments with little movement. As the pond dried up, the deposit was effectively sealed. The best evidence for an actual lithic reduction locus is found in N500E485. Here, 33 chert artifacts were recovered from the pond sediment. What distinguishes this assemblage are two distinct concentrations of Lefkara Basal Green and Lefkara Translucent Red, Tawny, and Brown chert types. The majority of the Translucent chert may originate from the same cobble since all three chert varieties can be found grading into one another on several pieces. What make this assemblage even more distinctive is the noticeable absence of the other two Lefkara Basal varieties, which are ubiquitous on site. The Lefkara Basal Green variety is represented by 14 items, most of which can be classified as waste material. None of these shows any sign of use. However, three pieces are retouched: a notch element found on a snapped blade segment; a tip scraper fashioned on a Type 1 flake; and a scraping edge created on a Type 2 flake (fig. 23:6). The Lefkara Translucent chert assemblage provides perhaps the two finest chipped stone tools recovered from Agios Savvas. They are a sickle blade backed by retouch and a drill, both of which are manufactured on Lefkara Translucent Brown (fig. 23:1–2). The sickle blade is produced on a snapped blade segment. Fine retouch, use, and sheen are located on the left lateral dorsal edge. The right lateral dorsal edge, dorsal distal, and proximal edges are retouched to back the piece. Another backed sickle blade was found in a disturbed pond context, also manufactured on the same chert type. The drill is on a crested blade and is bifacially retouched. The distal point has been dealt a burin blow to create a transverse truncation. Retouch, both on the ventral and dorsal faces, was then employed to further reduce the drill point. Extensive ventral retouching or trimming, as well as some dorsal retouch, was applied on the proximal end to thin the area, probably to facilitate hafting.

Rupp, David W., Sherry C. Fox, Ellen Herscher, et al. “Prastio—Agios Savvas Tis Karonis Monastery (Pafos District, Cyprus): 1994–1995 Field Season and 1992–1995 Artifact Analyses.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (November 1999) 316 (1999): 53–55. Print.