French archaeologists have discovered an intact 2,700-year-old room in Larnaca

The French archaeological expedition has discovered an intact room dating to the 8th–7th centuries BC during excavations in the Kition-Bamboula sector in Larnaca, Cyprus. According to the Department of Antiquities, the mission’s fieldwork season concluded in October 2025.

The room of the Archaic period was identified north of a large looters’ trench that had destroyed its southern wall. The eastern and northern walls are preserved; they are built of stone with upper sections made of mudbrick. On the western surface of one of the walls, a white plaster layer has been preserved. The collapse of the mudbrick kept the interior furnishings in their original positions.

Six ceramic vessels were found in the room: three along the northern wall and three along the eastern wall. The collection includes imported Phoenician amphorae, a local white amphora and a jug, as well as a two-coloured barrel-shaped jug. Two Phoenician amphorae were found upside down, with their upper and lower parts removed.

Earlier, more than 100 fragments of Phoenician ostraca were discovered in a ploughed pit dating to the 4th century BC, representing about 75 texts, which are currently being studied. The excavations also revealed parallel looters’ trenches from the Classical period and partially preserved floor horizons with multi-period use. A small foundation deposit beneath one of the floors, which included a cooking pot, is compared with examples from the palace of Amathus.