Across the island of Cyprus, archaeologists have discovered the ancient remains of young women who appear to have been murdered before being sealed inside buildings, as if to separate them from both the living and the dead. The latest discovered victim of this grisly practice was recently unearthed at the Bronze-Age site of Erimi, where researchers also came across a mysterious 2.3-meter (7.5-foot) high monolith that they estimate was erected some 4,000 years ago.

Located on a limestone terrace near the present-day city of Limassol, Erimi was a thriving artisan settlement that experienced its heyday during the Middle Bronze Age, between 2000 and 1600 BCE. The town’s inhabitants are thought to have prospered thanks to their expertise in producing dyed fabrics, and previous excavations have revealed the presence of workshops, warehouses, dyeing vats, residential areas and a cemetery.

The recently discovered monolith was found inside a small “sacred space” in the middle of the workshop complex, indicating that the commercial and religious activities of the site’s ancient inhabitants may have been connected. In a statement, Erimi Archaeological Project director Professor Luca Bombardieri explained that the small consecrated room is in fact “the oldest sacred building attested in Cyprus”, and that its “ritual function and ideological value seem to be of particular significance.”

While unable to decipher the monolith’s purpose, the researchers reveal that it is completely smooth with a small circular motif at its center. “"The monolith, which originally stood in the center of the room, collapsed onto the floor and destroyed a large amphora placed at its feet in front of a small circular hearth,” said Bombardieri.

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Speaking to Italian news outlet ANSA, the project leader described a second startling discovery at Erimi, in the form of a young woman whose battered corpse was walled up inside her home, possibly in an attempt to prevent her spirit from haunting the town. Having had her head smashed with a rock or a spear, the victim - who was no older than 20 years of age - then had a heavy stone placed upon her dead body, “as if to keep her still,” Bombardieri explained.

Rather than being buried in a tomb within the town’s graveyard, the poor woman was simply sealed inside her own house. It therefore appears that the young girl was deliberately separated from the other corpses at Erimi, although researchers are unable to explain why.

What they do know, however, is that this is not an isolated case, as they say that the bodies of at least 15 other young women from this same period in history have been discovered in similar circumstances in different parts of the island. Bombardieri therefore suspects that the skeleton at Erimi “may be linked to other cases recorded in the past in other parts of Cyprus,” although the connection between these femicides is currently a complete mystery.