2018 Season

Excavations at Makounta-Voules-Mersinoudia in 2018 were designed to test the results of the 2017 survey. Using data from the surface collection and geophysical prospection, we opened a series of trial trenches to ground truth the survey. Two excavation areas in particular revealed prehistoric occupation. Excavations in Area A produced evidence of Chalcolithic domestic architecture and features, including part of a roundhouse, as well a fire installation – possibly a kiln or a large oven. Also revealed in Area A was a large linear stone feature whose function is still unknown and which seems to date to the Early Bronze Age. In Area C, a portion of another Chalcolithic roundhouse was revealed. Heavy ploughing has damaged or destroyed the upper levels of this building, but the foundations and floor assemblage are still intact. The building included plaster floor surfaces, a plaster platform, and a pit in the floor that contained a flint knappers toolkit. We also recovered a fragment of a picrolite figurine – carved in the typical Middle Chalcolithic style – from one of the trenches in Area C. So far, the data that really stands out at the site is the substantial evidence for the production of ceramics, metal objects, wooden items, stone tools, and picrolite figurines. Ultimately, the 2018 excavation season has given us a tantalizing glimpse into the lives of this early community and has demonstrated the potential of the site for future investigations

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