The Middle Bronze Age Forts

The Middle Bronze Age Forts, usefull information of Northern Cyprus History

It was during the Middle Bronze Age that a few fortified sites sites appeared in Cyprus. Comparable to the hillforts of Northern Eurpope, some of them might have had an agricultural purpose, as stock enclosures. Certainly the part played by farming was increasing in Middle Bronze Age economy and Catling points to settlements all along the foothills 'between Nicosia and Trikomo' but other hillforts might have been central places to do with tribal organisation. There is one at Krini (Turkish, Pinarbasj) on the lower slopes of the southern side of the Kyrenia Mountains, its vulnerable northern side is blocked by a curtain wall of massive stones, while on the south there is a sheer drop. Another is at Dhikomo (Turkish, Dikmen) six miles to the east. People see forts as evidence for internal strife on the island; unrest is implicit in the number of weapons now found buried in graves, even if some of the evidence can be read in different ways. Nitovikla is a fort in the Karpas down by the sea shore south of Korovia (Turkish, Kuruova). It was dug by the Swedish Cyprus Expedition in 1929. It lies so close to the promontory's edge that it has half fallen away, but its walls are still impressive after three and a half thousand years. It is small and square, with square towers and it had a flat roof. Massive ashlar blocks in the construction of the gateway are similar to others found in forts of Anatolia. The excavators thought Nitovikla had been built as a refuge in times of trouble, but its position at the very end of a long narrow valley certainly implies that it was sited there for other purposes as well, such as to watch for shipping, or as a coastal defence.

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