Marki Alonia

Marki Alonia is a prehistoric settlement in central Cyprus [1]. Excavations were carried out at the site between 1990 and 2000 by David Frankel and Jennifer Webb of La Trobe University [1]. These showed that it was occupied from the earliest phase of the Early Bronze Age (about 2400 BCE) until well into the Middle Bronze Age [1]. It is the most extensively excavated site of the period, and the only one with a long sequence of occupation, which provides evidence for the development of the Philia culture [1]. The household compounds consisted of rectilinear buildings constructed using rectangular mould-made mud-bricks set on substantial stone foundations with associated open courtyards [1]. Marki was primarily an agricultural village [1]. Only small quantities of seeds survive, sufficient to indicate a broad agricultural base, with fruits, such as grapes, olives and figs, nuts and legumes, and with wheat and barley as staple cereals [1].