Maa-Palaeokastro: destruction, rebuilding, abandonment

The explanations distinguish finds, interpretations and open questions. Sources appear at the end of the page.

What the Department of Antiquities says

According to the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus page on Maa-Palaeokastro, the site was excavated in 1952 and in 1979-1985, and the Department links it to the settlement of refugees from the Aegean and to the process of Hellenisation, around 1200 BCE. Source 1.

Three moments

According to the same page, the site was destroyed around 1175 BCE, probably by pirates, rebuilt, and abandoned around 1150 BCE. The hedge is the Department's: identifying the destroyers is a proposal, not an established fact. The details cited here do not say what was destroyed and what was rebuilt, or what the attribution to pirates rests on. Source 1.

Where it sits on the timeline

All three moments, around 1200, 1175 and 1150 BCE, fall inside the Late Bronze Age of the Department of Antiquities' chronological table, 1650-1050 BCE, and inside the Late Bronze Age of the Met's timeline, about 1600-1050 BCE. The article is therefore placed in the Late Bronze Age. The dates are approximate, and the details cited here do not say what they are based on, for example pottery or radiocarbon tests. Sources 1, 2, 3.

What can be said about "around 1200"

The question of what happened in Cyprus around 1200 BCE cannot be answered from one site. What the Department's page offers is an interpretation, refugees from the Aegean and Hellenisation, not a description of finds; this article attributes it to the Department and does not extend it to the whole island. Who the refugees were, why they came and what Hellenisation means at this place are questions for the excavation reports. Among the objects documented on this website is a bronze spearhead from Cyprus that the museum dates to about 1200-1100 BCE; its record names no findspot, so it is a comparison in time only, not a find from Maa. Sources 1, 4.

Scope of reading: the Department of Antiquities pages cited here could not be opened for checking on 24 October 2026; the details from them follow notes taken from those pages at an earlier stage and were not re-checked. The Met timeline page for 2000-1000 BCE was read on 24 October 2026. The excavation reports of 1952 and of 1979-1985 were not read, so this page gives no plan, levels or finds from the site.