The Polis-Peristeries sanctuary preserves remarkable evidence for the use of ancient sacred
space.
For nine years (1988–1991, 1994–1997, 2000), the Princeton Cyprus Expedition excavated an
Iron Age sanctuary in the locality of Peristeries in Polis Chrysochous, Cyprus, the location of the
ancient city of Marion. This sanctuary dedicated to the female goddess of Cyprus was in use for
half a millennium, from ca. 950 to ca. 450 BCE. The sanctuary escaped the attention of early
excavators in the 19th and early 20th centuries and was nearly untouched by looting in the later
20th century. It is remarkable for its preservation of thousands of objects in situ, especially from
the period of the sanctuary’s largest architectural form, which was destroyed by fire ca. 500
BCE.
The excavations recorded the three-dimensional coordinates of thousands of votive offerings on
the floors of the buildings and in associated features, providing an unprecedented body of
evidence for the use of space in and around an ancient Cypriot sanctuary. Larger and more
complex votives, including bronze vessels, incense burners, and large terracotta statuary, were found next to the house of the goddess in a four-room building at the north end of the sanctuary.
A courtyard and side structure contained many smaller votives. Votive offerings were not only
displays of piety, but also displays of wealth and social position. Workshops, possible residential
buildings, and streets show how the sanctuary was embedded within the core of the ancient city
of Marion.
This grant is for the completion of the first published volume about the Polis-Peristeries
sanctuary (Grid Area B.D7), which will also encompass nearby test excavations, including Area
B.C6 excavated in 1985. Previous publications have been preliminary reports, object studies, and
publications related to “City of Gold: Tomb and Temple in Ancient Cyprus,” an exhibition of
finds from Polis held at the Princeton University Art Museum from 2012 into 2013.
This first volume about Polis-Peristeries includes the architecture, stratigraphy, and pottery from
the sanctuary and outlying structures and features, as well as nearly 1,300 small finds, including
bronze vessels as may have been used in feasts at the sanctuary, incense burners that would have
added aromas to the experience of encountering the goddess, and votive dedications such as
amulets. Subsequent volumes will contain specialist studies of additional artifacts and ecofacts as
well as the stratigraphy, pottery, and small finds from the excavation of a large votive pit, a
bothros, found outside the sanctuary temenos.
The publication project of the Princeton University excavations in Polis Chrysochous is directed
by Joanna S. Smith together with the founding director of the excavation project, William A. P.
Childs.
