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LiveScience
LiveScience
Kristina Killgrove

Vounous Bowl: A 4,000-year-old basin holding 4 miniature cows and 18 people — that was buried for mysterious reasons in a Bronze Age tomb in Cyprus

A red-colored ceramic bowl with a scene of animal and human figurines inside.
QUICK FACTS

Name: Vounous Bowl

What it is: Ceramic vessel with complex figural scene inside

Where it is from: Bellapais, northern Cyprus

When it was made: Circa 2025 to 1850 B.C.

Scholars have debated the meaning of the Vounous Bowl for decades since it was discovered in a Bronze Age tomb in northern Cyprus. While the exact purpose of the unusual vessel is unclear, most experts believe it depicts some sort of sacred scene and may have been used in a religious ceremony.

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