Klidhes islands: the Oxford underwater survey

In 1969 an underwater mission sent by the Oxford laboratory and led by Jeremy Green searched the seabed around the Klidhes islands off Cape St. Andreas for wrecks and other material of archaeological interest¹. It located and explored eight wreck sites, raised specimens that were photographed and deposited in the Cyprus Museum, and located, mapped, measured and photographed more than 50 anchors; about a quarter of the seabed around the island was explored, to a depth of 50 metres¹.

The second year of systematic exploration, in 1970, concentrated north of the two main channels between the second and fourth islands, where several scattered wrecks were recorded². One wreck area held about 68 Corinthian-type roof tiles and eight joining tiles stacked together, over an area of 18 by 8 metres that was surveyed with a probe, metal detector and magnetometer². The anchors recorded in 1969 were surveyed and photographed again; about 200 were recorded, and additional rows of anchors were found². Harpster describes Green's investigations as continuing until 1970 and extending to Ayios Photios on the north coast and Khelones on the south³. Green's preliminary report appeared in 1973, as "An underwater archaeological survey of Cape Andreas, Cyprus, 1969–70: a preliminary report", in D. Blackman (ed.), Marine Archaeology⁴.