After discussing the Sandby borg case study, we proceed here with the case study of Choriokoitia in Cyprus.

Situated in the Maroni valley, about 6 km as the crow flies from the sea, the site of Khirokitia lies in a relatively uneven landscape in the foothills of the Troodos massif. The remains of the Neolithic village spread over the sides of a hill. It is enclosed to the north, east, and southeast by a deep bend in the Maroni River, and to the west, it adjoins the neighbouring high hills.

The built-up area is crossed from north to south by a linear stone structure dividing the settlement into two sectors. This structure (initially interpreted as the main road, or backbone, of the settlement) was, in fact, a wall that separated the village from the outside world from the moment of its foundation.

Choirokoitia is one of the most important and best-preserved prehistoric sites of the eastern Mediterranean and was occupied from the 7th until the 4th millennium BC. Like the other aceramic sites on the island, the settlement was suddenly abandoned for a relatively long period until the emergence of a new civilization, the ceramic Neolithic. It was also reoccupied at this time, but no architectural traces of this reoccupation survive.

With the evidence at our disposal, it is impossible to make sense of Choirokoitia's abandonment. Palynological studies do not indicate changes in climatic conditions which would have destroyed the island's ecological equilibrium and brought about a dramatic decrease in food resources. No traces of a natural catastrophe, epidemic, or violent destruction caused by human agents have been found, and we are in no position to detect any possible changes in socioeconomic factors.

See more information here: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/848/ and https://whc.unesco.org/cyprus2009/