THE “PITS” – LATE 5th/EARLY 4th MILLENNIUM BCE

In the northern area of the site, after the first ploughing had taken place, a series of 15 large holes were dug, known also as “pits”, varying in width, depth (some reaching 2 metres) and content. Between the 5th and 4th millennium BCE, not only did devout hands dig these holes, but they also deposited millstones, cereals, and the remains of fruit in them. Legumes such as vetches and grass peas, cereals such as spelt and wheat, and burnt oak and pine wood all provide evidence of the bonfires which sealed the surfaces of the pits. These remains tell us of a remote agrarian landscape and peasants working the land, worshipping the forces of nature in order to earn their good grace. These pits, therefore, must have housed offerings to the divinities who oversaw the eternal cycles of life, death and rebirth.