The Department of Antiquities, Deputy Ministry of Culture, has announced the successful completion of the 2025 archaeological field season of the Life at the Furnace (LAF) project, in the valley of the Peristerona river, led by the universities of Copenhagen and Uppsala. LAF project is led by Dr Kristina Winther- Jacobsen (Københavns Universitet – University of Copenhagen) and Dr Angus Graham (Uppsala University), in collaboration with the The Cyprus Institute. Excavation director: Dr Roser Marsal (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona).

The LAF project, through the investigation of a combination of material culture and environmental data the Life at the Furnace-project (LAF) investigates how the copper production associated with foreign control of Cyprus under the Roman Empire affected the complex human/social organisation and environment in the north-western Troodos foothills.

Focusing on the Peristerona River valley and its wider hinterland, the project seeks to contextualise the major slagheap of Agia Marina Xyliatou–Mavrovouni and related sites across Orounta, Kato Moni, Xyliatos, and Nikitari. This year’s campaign concluded on 7 November 2025.

Key Findings from the 2025 Season
1. Continued Surface Survey and New Discoveries  
Survey work expanded the chronological and cultural framework of activity around the Agia Marina Xyliatou–Mavrovouni slagheap. A small cultivated plateau north of Agia Marina Xyliatou revealed the remains of an Iron Age sanctuary, identified through fragments of handmade figurines—horses, a bull, large human figures—and a mouldmade Astarte figurine.  
During the Hellenistic–Early Roman and Late Roman periods, this sanctuary appears to have been replaced by a settlement likely linked to copper production, as indicated by a discrete scatter of slag.
Survey teams also continued mapping at the Peristerona River crossing between Kato Moni and Orounta, refining the landscape context of the Chalcolithic site of Stavros tou Kounti.

2. Excavation at Agia Marina Xyliatou–Mavrovouni  
Following preliminary clearance in 2024, the project opened new excavation areas on the knoll of Mavrovouni. Work revealed an extensive and sophisticated water‑management system distributed across three artificial terraces. Features include basins, cisterns, and plastered hydraulic installations, demonstrating significant investment in water control. The backfill material within these installations dates primarily from the Late Hellenistic to Middle Roman periods, suggesting that the settlement experienced a major phase of activity during this time. The precise relationship between this hydraulic system and copper‑smelting operations remains a central research question for future seasons.

The Life at the Furnace project is supported by the Carlsberg Foundation and the Enboms Foundation.

Source and Images:
culture.gov.cy/da
Figure 1. Hand from half life-size terracotta human figure, sanctuary at Agia Marina Xyliatou-Maratheutiki. (photo: T. Winther Jacobsen © LAF).
Figure 2. Recording the water management system at the copper smelting settlement of Agia Marina Xyliatou-Mavrovouni (photo: R. Marsal © LAF).