GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN—Archaeologists from the University of Gothenburg have excavated a residential area of the Bronze Age city of Hala Sultan Tekke on the southern coast of Cyprus. The site, which could be as large as 120 acres, dates from 1600 to 1100 B.C., and seems to have been an important Bronze Age center. In addition to finding evidence of copper smelting and production of purple textiles, as well as numerous artifacts from other eastern Mediterranean cultures, the team discovered a bronze brooch from northern Italy or central Europe. “The finds underscore the mobility of Bronze Age people far beyond their immediate surroundings,” says project director Peter Fischer. “Their connections with Greece, Turkey, Egypt and the Levant may not come as a surprise, but those with Italy and central and northern Europe are very exciting. These finds lend strength to the hypothesis about major migration taking place around 1200 BC.”
