Welcome to Ancient Cyprus
The island of Cyprus is host to an incredible archeological history, spanning over ten thousand years and a myriad of major civilizations. This website is dedicated to documenting its archeology and history.

The collection
The Drakopoulos Collection
133 Cypriot antiquities, from Neolithic potsherds to a Hellenistic oil bottle. Walk through them century by century, turn 14 scanned pieces in three dimensions, and read the ownership history of each object as far back as it can be traced.
Read
Recent Articles

October 5, 2026
Ancient Cypriot Architecture: A Course from the First Villages to the Roman Earthquake

October 4, 2026
Ancient Cypriot Pottery: A Course from the First Pots to the Classical Kingdoms

June 24, 2026
Two Birds, Two Necks: A Vounous Jug, Its Louvre Cousin, and a Lost One from Tomb 46A

June 17, 2026
The Newest String: A Middle Bronze Age Cypriot Faience Necklace
Interactive map
Explore Cyprus, Period by Period
Ten thousand years of settlement on one illustrated island. Step through seventeen periods from the first foragers to the Archaic city-kingdoms, zoom from the whole island down to a single valley, and open any site we have written up straight from its pin.
Play
Learn by playing
Five free games built on real objects and real digs: make a pot, open a tomb, trace a vase, make cloth through five eras and carve a picrolite pendant. Five to fifteen minutes each.
The registers
Who dug, sold, kept and wrote about them
Every Cypriot antiquity passed through many hands. Three linked registers follow them: the people, the institutions they worked for, and what was written about it all. Each entry links to the others.
Consuls and diggers of the 1860s, dealers, collectors, curators and scholars down to the present.
Browse all peopleMuseums, auction houses, dealers' firms, expeditions, consulates and universities.
Browse all institutionsBooks, articles, museum and sale catalogues, excavation reports, laws and archive papers.
- Cyprus in the 19th Century AD: Fact, Fancy and FictionVeronica Tatton-Brown (ed.), 2001
- The Consul Luigi Palma di Cesnola 1832-1904: Life and DeedsA. G. Marangou (ed.), 2000
- Deutschland und das antike Zypern. Beiträge zur Geschichte einer archäologischen DisziplinMatthias Recke, 2012
History
Explore the History of Cyprus
Find out more about Cyprus from the first settlers to the late Archaic periods. Note we do not cover the later classical periods.
Article
Cypro-Archaic Bird Motifs
The pottery of ancient Cyprus, especially throughout the Archaic period, is known for various repeating patterns and motifs, including intricate free-field birds. Let us explore commonly found bird motifs and the pottery on which they live.
3D models
3D Models of Cypriot Pottery
Through our cutting-edge Photogrammetry program we have published our first set of compressed 3D models featuring an impressive resolution of up to 20 pixels per mm. Our models have been published with 8k textures downsampled from 16k.
You can also find out more about our Photogrammetry Program and future plans. We will be publishing articles detailing our photogrammetry approach and the use of 3D models in archeology.

About
Our Mission
Our mission is to democratize access to the fascinating history and cultural heritage of Ancient Cyprus by collecting, preserving, and sharing all known knowledge in a way that is engaging, understandable, and free for everyone.
We are committed to breaking down barriers to learning by translating complex research and literature into accessible, easy-to-understand content, providing the tools and resources necessary for people of all backgrounds to explore and appreciate the rich history of Cyprus. Through our dedication to writing, collecting, and preserving the history of Cyprus, we aim to inspire curiosity, foster a deeper understanding, and ensure that the invaluable knowledge of this ancient civilization is accessible to generations to come.
Projects
Find out More About Our Projects
We have several ongoing and planned Projects:
- The Compendium of Cypriot Pottery
- End to End Course on Cypriot Archeology
- Largest Online Catalogue of Cypriot artefacts
- Research Unveiled: Simplifying & Documenting Research for All
- What really happened in the 1800s: Artifacts Lost to History
- An Interactive Historical Map of Ancient Cyprus
- A Comprehensive list of Cypriot Collections around the World
- A Complete Catalogue of Resources on Ancient Cyprus












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