Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1944, Blaðsíða 94

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LE NORD
on the west coast of the island must have been one of the most
important ports for importation of Greek articles, at least from
the jth century B. C. Previous archaeologists, particularly M.
Ohnefalsch-Richter, here had opened a very large number of
tombs, but scientific observations here, as so often in the i9th and
the beginning of the 20th century, were not made with suf-
ficient accuracy. The Swedish Expedition now examined ioo
rock-tombs in the extensive necropolises. The groups of finds
cover a period from about iooo B. C. to Hellenistic times. Most
groups are from the later centuries of this period, which in this
way has had its chronology established and its various categories
of objects classified. It was of special importance that the Greek
imports could be synchronized with the Cypriote material. Marion
is a town often mentioned in the ancient sources. But it has been
discussed where it was situated. The Swedish archaeologists now
succeeded in finding the remains of the town to which the exten-
sive necropolises at Polis tis Chrysochous belonged, and by a
trial digging in the town area it could even be established that
this place is ancient Marion.
Idalion.4B One of the most comprehensive excavations made by
the Swedish Cyprus Expedition was that of the acropolis of
Idalion, capital of the archaic kingdom of the same name. The
extensive acropolis was investigated in its entirety, and the ex-
pedition succeeded in ascertaining in detail the history of the place
and the various phases of settlement. The place was formerly
known as the finding place of a couple of curious archaic silver
bowls and the famous so-called Idalion inscription. Already in
the Late Cypriote Bronze Age the acropolis was inhabited. From
this time three periods may be distinguished, but its most im-
portant period falls under the Cypro-Archaic Period, when the
huge defensive walls of the hill at various stages were built and
the area within was filled with a jumble of houses. To a certain
extent the great expectations of magnificent finds in this place
were disappointed, but a very large number of weapons and
articles of value of various kinds, however, were found, especially
in connexion with two cult-places situated within the walls. The
46 Swed. Cyp. Exp. II, p. 460; a few fragments of armour in the
Swedish excavations at Idalion occasioned the paper by Westholm,
Cypro-Arckaic Splint Armour, in the Acta Archaeologica 1938, p. 163.