Cyprus: Wheat and Terebinth in the Bronze Age

Significant findings in Kissonerga-Skalia, Paphos, reveal dietary habits of the Bronze Age. A large oven, approximately four meters in diameter, was found with burnt food remains of wheat and terebinth.

The excavation, led by Lindy Crewe of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI), was completed in 2025. The findings suggest that Cypriots consumed a type of food with wheat and terebinth as early as the Bronze Age.

In addition to the oven, stone tools, ceramic shards, and animal bones were also uncovered. The settlement was abandoned around 1600 BC, at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age.

Research indicates that the settlement was founded around 2500 BC and flourished until 1750 BC. A large-scale building program took place, with the construction of a 1200 sq.m. building complex.