Dug water well
Pozo de agua excavado
- Date
- c. 8000 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Kissonerga-Mylouthkia, Paphos, Cyprus
- Credited to
- PPNB settlers of Cyprus
- Field
- Tools
What it is
Cylindrical wells up to 8 m deep, cut into the rock down to the aquifer, the oldest known. They free the settlement from dependence on a riverbank or spring and guarantee clean, stable water.
Atlit-Yam (Israel, c. 7500 BCE) preserves a similar stone well now under the sea.
What it led to
- Settlement in land far from watercourses
- Less contamination of drinking water and better health
- Rights of access to water as a communal good
Built on
- Polished stone tools
- Rope and leather bucket