Editorial standards

Ancient Cyprus (ancientcyprus.com) is published by the Antiquity Preservation Fund, which was founded by Alexis Drakopoulos. The site documents the archaeology and history of Cyprus: its sites, excavations, objects, collections, people and institutions. Our news section reports what is new in that field. More about the foundation and its projects is on the About page.

We report excavation seasons, surveys and rescue work in Cyprus; new research papers, analyses and dates; new books and catalogues; museum openings, displays, loans and acquisitions; exhibitions, conferences and lectures; and the looting, trafficking, seizure and return of Cypriot antiquities. We also announce new pages, reconstructions and courses on this site.

Each piece links to the pages on this site that give its background: the site, the excavation project, the people and institutions involved, and the period.

We follow the publications of excavation teams, journals, museums and the authorities every day. Software helps us find new material and prepare drafts; every piece is researched, written and checked by our editors before publication.

Every news piece names and links its original sources in an “Original source” box, with the date each was published. Official announcements from the Department of Antiquities and the Deputy Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cyprus are linked and attributed to them by name. Research news links the paper or book it reports, and we cite the published literature we draw on for background in the references.

Every photograph carries a credit. We use official photographs as they were released, with the credit the authority gives; other photographs are our own, are published under an open licence, or are used with the permission of the rights holder.

We write every piece in our own words. We add the context a reader needs: where the site is, what was known before, who has worked there and why the find matters to the study of Cyprus. We quote sources only in short passages, in quotation marks and attributed, and we never republish a press release or an article in full.

We check names, dates, places and figures against the original source before publication. When the sources disagree, we say so.

When we find an error of fact, we correct the piece and add a dated correction note at its end, saying what was wrong. A piece that has been changed after publication shows the time it was updated. Spelling and style fixes are made without a note.

To report an error, write to us through the contact page or at alexis@ancientcyprus.com, with the address of the page and what you believe is wrong.

Ancient Cyprus is a non-commercial site and free to read. We publish no paid or sponsored content, and nobody can pay for coverage or for a change to a piece.

The founder owns a private collection of Cypriot antiquities, which is published on this site as the Drakopoulos collection. When a news piece concerns that collection, we say so in the piece.

In pieces on looting and trafficking we state the legal stage of every case: investigation, arrest, charge, trial, verdict or appeal. A person who has been arrested or charged is presumed innocent until a court convicts them, and we write accordingly. We report what the police, the prosecutors and the courts have stated, and we report the outcome of cases we have covered, including acquittals.

We do not publish details that could help looters, such as the exact position of an unprotected site. The Antiquity Preservation Fund reports suspected illicit sales to the authorities; how it does so is set out on the Heritage Protection and Reporting page.

We call the events of 1974 the Turkish invasion and the north of the island the occupied north, and we recognise the Republic of Cyprus as the island's only legitimate state, so we do not treat permits or authorities in the occupied areas as lawful.