Kalavasos Tenta, Cyprus
Four kilometers from the village of Kalavasos, on a small hill overlooking the Vasilikos River valley, archaeologists uncovered one of Cyprus's earliest permanent settlements. Kalavasos-Tenta dates to around 8000-6000 BC and predates the more famous Choirokoitia by nearly a millennium. Today, a distinctive cone-shaped shelter protects the circular stone houses where some of the island's first farming communities lived over 9,000 years ago. Kalavasos-Tenta is an Aceramic Neolithic settlement located 38 kilometers southwest of Larnaca and 45 kilometers south of Nicosia. The site occupies a naturally defensible hill on the west side of the Vasilikos valley, positioned to command views of the surrounding agricultural land and the river that provided water for crops and livestock. The settlement represents the Aceramic Neolithic period, meaning its inhabitants lived before pottery was introduced to Cyprus. Archaeological evidence shows occupation from around 8000 BC through the 6th millennium BC, making it contemporary with other early Cypriot sites like Shillourokambos and Mylouthkia. The population during its peak likely never exceeded 150 people based on the size and number of structures excavated. According to local tradition, the site's name derives from a much later event in 327 AD, when Saint Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, stayed in a tent at this location during her visit to Cyprus following the discovery of the True Cross in…
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