The story of Khirokitia

Picture a village of round stone huts huddled on a hillside in the Maroni valley, about 6 km from the sea. This is Khirokitia, one of the best preserved prehistoric sites of the eastern Mediterranean and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998. When Porphyrios Dikaios discovered it in 1934, he thought it dated from around 4000 BC, but radiocarbon dating pushed its foundation back to around 7000 BC. A strong stone wall, 2.5 metres thick, cut the village off from the outside world.

Inside, round houses called tholoi clustered around open courtyards, each group probably a family. The villagers grew wheat, barley and lentils, gathered figs, olives and pistachios, herded sheep, goats and pigs, and hunted deer. Life was short: adult men reached about 35 years on average, women 33. The dead were buried in a crouched position just beneath the floors of the houses.

Then, around 6000 BC, the village was suddenly abandoned, for reasons nobody knows.