SurveyDepartment of Antiquities
Kyrenia range and western Kyrenia coast: the Cyprus Survey (Catling and Nicolaou)
1957–1959 · Kyrenia
Also known as Archaeological Survey of Cyprus; Kyrenia range survey; Archaeological Survey of Cyprus, Kyrenia coastal strip; Lapithos survey 1958–59; The Cyprus Survey of the western Kyrenia coast
The Department of Antiquities survey of the western Kyrenia coast and range, 1957 to 1959, by Hector Catling and Kyriakos Nicolaou, which recorded 182 sites north of the range in autumn 1959 and a Middle Bronze Age fortress near Krini.
Map of Cyprus
Where the work took place
- Main site
- Also worked at
- Ground above 200, 500, 1,000 m
The project
In the autumn of 1959 the survey north of the Kyrenia range mapped 182 sites, most of them previously unknown, and collected 184 objects1. The survey was a Department of Antiquities project of Hector Catling and Kyriakos Nicolaou2; Nicolaou continued it after Catling left2,3. In 1957 Megaw's annual report described it as a resumption of survey in the western coastal strip around Kyrenia, and listed additional Neolithic sites on the coast and in the foothills, the settlement at Vasilia, which extended from the Erimi through the Ambelikou to the Philia stage, and new Early Cypriot sites with Philia-stage material2. The report calls Late Cypriot sites few and modest, and reports a later peak in prosperity in the Imperial Roman and Early Christian periods2.
The annual notice for 1958 reports a brief campaign at Lapithos and survey between Krini and Sykhari4. In 1959 work continued on both sides of the range, and the autumn campaign concentrated on the hills between the mountains and the Kyrenia–Myrtou road, in the area of Karavas, Motides, Palaiosophos, Elaia and Phterycha1. Near Krini a fortress, probably of the Middle Bronze Age, stood on a height, with a substantial bastioned wall on the north side and a second inner wall1. North of the range the report records Neolithic traces, many Early and Middle Bronze Age sites, numerous Hellenistic sites and a strong early Byzantine presence, with fewer Late Bronze Age and Geometric-to-Classical sites1. A plan of ancient Lapithos showed the approximate extent of the city and its surviving remains: the acropolis, city wall, harbour, rock-cut basins and an early Christian basilica. The report adds that the ruins had been plundered for treasure and used as a source of building stone1.
Catling's Patterns of Settlement in Bronze Age Cyprus of 1962 is a gazetteer based on the fieldwork of Catling and Nicolaou5.
Directors and team
Directed by
- Hector Catling1957–1959
- Kyriakos Nicolaou1957–1959
Institutions
- Department of Antiquities of CyprusSponsor
- Cyprus SurveySponsor
Seasons
3 seasons- 1957
Several more coastal and foothill Neolithic sites; a settlement at Vasilia from Erimi through Ambelikou to Philia stage; new Philia-stage sites, some with black-slip combed ware; few LC sites; prosperity peaking in Roman/Early Christian periods, ending with the Arab raids.
Directed by H. W. Catling[1]
- 1958
Brief campaign: extensive Late Bronze Age site with copper slag suggesting a copper centre; Vrysi tou Barba cemetery rich in Early and Middle Bronze Age bronzes; many early Geometric cemeteries and settlement traces. First half of 1958 survey: widespread prehistoric settlement, especially Early Bronze Age; Middle and Late Bronze Age sites near Dhikomo; one or two Late Geometric/Early Archaic cemeteries; Hellenistic villages, farms, terraces and a rustic Aphrodite sanctuary.
Directed by K. Nicolaou[4]
- 1959autumn 1959
Plan of the classical city drawn: acropolis (partly excavated by Myres and Markides in 1913), city wall, harbour, rock-cut basins, early Christian basilica; site plundered for treasure and building stone. Department exploration service located an extensive Neolithic site, many Early-Middle Bronze Age sites between Krini and Sisklipos, a Middle Bronze Age fortress near Krini with bastioned wall, Hellenistic sites and cemeteries, and early Byzantine and enclosure sites near St Hilarion. Autumn survey of the hills between the mountains and the Kyrenia-Myrtou road: 182 mostly new sites mapped, 184 objects collected; abundant Neolithic (4200–2400), Early and Middle Bronze, Hellenistic and especially early Byzantine sites (oil mills and presses); few Late Bronze to Classical; a flint arrowhead at Karavas spring.
What was found
Periods
Features and finds
acropolis; city wall; harbour; rock-cut basins; basilica; fortress near Krini; 182 sites; 184 objects.
Publications
3 itemsAnnual reports of the Department of Antiquities
Chronique des fouilles (Bulletin de correspondance hellénique)
Related
Other fieldwork at Kyrenia · 5
- Kyrenia: tomb openings by the Scott-Stevensons1882–1883
- Kyrenia Castle: the Department's building investigations1950–1954
- Kyrenia: Department rescue excavations and the Kyrenia District Museum1962–1972
- Cyprus harbours: the Raban and Linder survey of 19711971
- Kyrenia district: Şevketoğlu's survey of Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites1995–1997
References
- 1.V. Karageorghis, 1960, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1959, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 84.
- 2.A. H. S. Megaw, 1957, Archaeology in Cyprus, 1957, Archaeological Reports 4.
- 3.P. Dikaios, 1962, Archaeology in Cyprus, 1959–61, Archaeological Reports 8.
- 4.V. Karageorghis, 1959, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1958, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 83.
- 5.H. W. Catling, 1962, Patterns of Settlement in Bronze Age Cyprus, Opuscula Atheniensia 4.
Sources
- 1.Archaeology in Cyprus, 1957, p. 2; p. 43.
- 2.Archaeology in Cyprus, 1959–61, p. 32.
- 3.Nicolaou, Kyriakos.
- 4.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1958, p. 27.
- 5.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1959, p. 59; pp. 57–59.
- 6.Hector William Catling (1924–2013). A Personal Tribute, p. 11.