Palaepaphos: the German-Swiss Mission

Directed by

• Franz Georg Maier1966–2008
• Marie-Louise von Wartburgco-director of the sugar-refinery project and the later campaigns1980–1997

Team

• H. Gesche1967
• A. Demandt1967
• C. F. Schneider1967
• H. Beckedorf1967

• Deutsches Archäologisches InstitutSponsor
• University of ZurichSponsor
• Universität KonstanzSponsor
• Swiss-German Palaipaphos ExpeditionHost

1. 1966August 1966

   First campaign: re-examined the oldest city wall (mud-brick on stone foundation) and dated it to Cypro-Geometric I rather than the Late Bronze Age; north-east gate shown to have been rebuilt several times, with Hellenistic guardrooms, so the wall was kept in use after Nea Paphos. During levelling in August 1966 the foundations of a limestone wall about 30 m long and 1.6 m thick appeared; probably part of the city fortifications; Attic stamped pottery in the wall gives a 4th c. BC terminus post quem; bulldozer damage to stratigraphy. Surface survey of the south-east city sector showed continuous settlement from the 12th century BC to the 14th century AD; Roman architectural fragments collected in the modern village.

   Directed by F. G. Maier[5]

2. 1967September-October 1967

   Siege mound against the rampart (arrowheads, inscriptions), second bastion of the north-east gate, guardroom ovens; new walls at Kaminia and a Late Cypriot chamber tomb TK 1 with Myc. IIIC:1 bowl; survey: cisterns at Evreti with datable Classical-Hellenistic pottery, looted Archaic cemetery at Lakkos tou Skarnou.

   Directed by F. G. Maier[20]

3. 1968September-October 1968

   Five looted tombs cleared in a Geometric-Archaic necropole (11th-6th c.), with Cypro-Geometric and Cypro-Archaic pottery including Proto-White Painted; one intact tomb with a child burial in a niche dated mid-6th c. by a White Painted VII amphora. At least four deep wells; well I filled with Attic imports and local 5th-c. pottery; wells III and VIII held Late Bronze Age material (Myc IIIB to IIIC:1b bell cups, Rude Style, fine ivory, bronze, spindle whorls, seals), probably from a nearby Mycenaean habitation, close to Mantissa and Maa. Further section of the Persian siege mound of 498 BC cleared (altar and architectural fragments, arrowheads, weapons, a hand of a limestone statue); the north-east gate level of the siege cleared, median bastion nearly fully exposed, three guard rooms dated before 300 BC, a later Roman road with water channel.

   Directed by F. G. Maier[21]

4. 1969September-October 1969

   Fourth season: the remaining siege mound of 498 BC cleared (300+ finds of stelai, altars, inscriptions, many iron and bronze arrowheads); NE gate bastion fully excavated and its burning in 498 shown; rescue pits at Kaminia and Mantissa; study of Evreti wells with 290+ Mycenaean IIIB bowls, ivory pyxis lid and stylets.

   Directed by F. G. Maier[22]

5. 1970June-July 1970

   Soundings beside the 1888 temple trenches found no trace of the sanctuary, only Turkish and modern debris; a small 16th-century church over Roman houses with Late Sgraffito graves; stratigraphy showed no sure Mycenaean habitation here; fortification dig on Marcello hill postponed.

   Directed by F. G. Maier[23]

6. 1971June-July 1971

   Two further Geometric and Archaic tombs, disturbed by farm-road works, with several burials each and many White Painted IV, Bichrome IV and Black-on-Red IV vessels. Last of the 498 BC siege ramp cleared: 448 arrow and javelin points (153 bronze, 295 iron), 422 stone projectiles, and votive pieces from the wrecked sanctuary (16 kouroi, 21 sphinxes and lions, 158 stelae); bastion II of the gate; a fourth mine gallery 22 m long; LC and LH IIIC1 sherds; a burial c. 1200 BC.

   Directed by F.-G. Maier[25]

7. 1972August-September 1972

   Season mostly spent studying 1966–71 finds: late Classical pottery from wells at Evreti-Kaminia, an ivory workshop assemblage and animal bones from LC wells at Evreti. Also rescue work at Vathyrkakas (after 17 tombs were looted, further Chalcolithic tombs; steatite pendants), and soundings at the Alonia site on a mosaic of Leda and the Swan (3rd century AD) with triclinium and baths.

   Directed by F. G. Maier[26]

8. 1973August - September 1973

   Eighth campaign: check soundings on the fortifications confirmed a mid-4th century BC rebuild, with an altar foundation; new systematic exploration of the Aphrodite sanctuary showed a Roman Sanctuary II and an earlier Sanctuary I dated to the 12th century BC, with medieval sugar refinery remains and first Chalcolithic sherds at Kouklia.

   Directed by F. G. Maier[27]

9. 1975August-September 1975

   Ninth campaign: medieval sugar-refinery remains over the sanctuary (about 800 molasses pots); Late Bronze Age Sanctuary I (c. 1200 BC) confirmed by pillar capitals and a horn of consecration, a clay bathtub, and the largest in situ pithos from Cyprus with cylinder-seal frieze, with 22 shrews, 50 mice and a fox; Roman Sanctuary II north part, new inscriptions, a northern precinct with later mosaic.

   Directed by F. G. Maier[28]

10. 1976August-September 1976

    Tenth campaign continuing study of Sanctuary I (Late Bronze, c. 1200 BC) and Roman Sanctuary II: medieval sugar-refinery waste (over 1000 molasses pots, a potter's kiln); LB pier and capital fragments; rock cuttings under the sanctuary; a second pithos in situ under the Roman south stoa; south stoa of Sanctuary II completed; over 500 terracotta statuette fragments of Archaic to Hellenistic date from the site and a bothros.

    Directed by F. G. Maier[29]

11. 1977August-September 1977

    Mainly study season; minor digging in Sanctuary I showed the medieval sugar refinery reached the temenos south edge (200+ molasses pots, 12th-century glazed ware); survey of sugar installations; LC offering table in situ; Chalcolithic axe and Red-on-White below; terracotta fragments from bothroi.

    Directed by F. G. Maier[30]

12. 1978April-May 1978

    Sanctuary I (Late Bronze Age) finished: only medieval sugar-mill rock basins and levelled ground remained; site KC between the sanctuary and the Roman peristyle house yielded a rich medieval layer (Late Sgraffito, Zeuxippus and Syrian wares, molasses pots) and c. 1700 identifiable Archaic-Classical votive terracotta figurine fragments; medieval sugar mill reconstructed (molasses boiling furnaces, aqueduct); new sugar works probed at Kolossi, Episkopi and Lemba.

    Directed by F. G. Maier[31]

13. 1979August-September 1979

    Completion of the W part of the Roman sanctuary II north enclosure with a late Roman mosaic, medieval sugar refinery debris (500 molasses pots) and a basin, 95 m of medieval aqueduct at Stavros, Mycenaean pottery study (earliest import a Minoan MR IA cup), and inspections at Rantidi and Achni.

    Directed by F. G. Maier[32]

14. 1980August-September 1980

    Fourteenth campaign (August-September): two late medieval sugar mills excavated at the foot of a slope with preserved water channels, nozzles, large millstones (2.60 m), a pointed vaulted outflow channel and over 900 molasses-pot sherds; operating in the 15th and 16th c.

    Directed by F. G. Maier[14]

15. 1981August-September 1981

    Fifteenth campaign on the medieval sugar mill TST 1 in the coastal plain: workrooms, a plastered soaking basin, over 2000 conical sugar moulds, a vaulted mill canal 7.25 m long, a huge conglomerate millstone 3.40 m wide showing double crushing; in use in the 15th-16th centuries.

    Directed by F. G. Maier[15]

16. 1982August–September 1982

    Last part of industrial archaeology project: medieval sugar-cane mill with water-turbine mill in a vaulted chamber and an animal-driven mill, refinery rooms, 3800 conical moulds and 1700 jars; two building phases, 14th-15th c., used to late 15th c.

    Directed by F. G. Maier[34]

17. 1983August-September 1983

    17th campaign, opening a new project on the habitation quarter: Cypro-Classical II house walls and dumps, a 9 m deep well of late 4th c., a burnt weaver's workshop with sealed clay loom weights, LC capitals and a few LC wells, an eighth syllabic stylus, Red Polished sherds and stone tools. Area abandoned c. 300 BC.

    Directed by F. G. Maier[36]

18. 1984August-September 1984

    Large Classical public building (at least 25 x 25 m) with colonnaded court, large room and probable baths, abandoned c. 300 BCE; Late Cypriot tombs beneath; undisturbed Late Cypriot deposits only in a well and a pit, with local Middle-Late Bronze pottery, Chalcolithic stone tools, a ring and an earring.

    Directed by F. G. Maier[4]

19. 1986

    Swiss-German mission devoted to study for publication.

    Directed by F. G. Maier[40]

20. 1987August-September 1987

    Twentieth campaign: a 23 x 8.2 m workshop south of the crushing unit, with water basins and eight furnaces for boiling cane juice; thousands of sugar-refining sherds; built late 13th century, used to the end of the 16th, destroyed by fire. Looted Roman chamber tomb found during road works, used to the 5th century AD: two gold rings and a reused LBA Mycenaean-Minoan style chalcedony seal with a resting bull and a second animal's head.

    Directed by F. G. Maier[35]

21. 1989

    Sugar refinery completed in 1990: milling, refining, stoking and storage sections; built late 13th century, remodelled 14th-15th and Venetian; stoke rooms with relieving arch; grinding hall W wall (1989); N wing storage and workshop (1990); subterranean mill chamber; outer facade 1990–91.

    Directed by F. Maier[41]

22. 1990

    Large rock-cut chamber tomb said to be the burial of two 4th-century BC Paphian kings, with long dromos, two main chambers with side chambers and a well shaft; looted; Late Classical sherds and alabastra, mostly Roman lamps.

    Directed by F. Maier[41]

23. 1991

    Test excavations on the palatial residence checked stratigraphy: first-phase pottery fits a Late Archaic or Classical date.

    Directed by F. Maier[41]

24. 1993

    1993–95 and 1997: northern sector of Roman structures, plan of the Roman sanctuary reconstructed, mosaics, CA-CC figurines from displaced bothroi, a CA sand-core glass figurine head, a first marble column base; paved road, drain, late waterpipes; N stoa investigated 1995.

    Directed by F. Maier[41]

25. 1994

    Exploratory work on the city wall confirmed the 1952 stratigraphy: earliest wall ECA over an LC II/III stratum; a projection on the SW side possibly linked to stairs.

    Directed by F. Maier[41]

26. 1997

    The 31st season: a small excavation in the N room clarified stratigraphy; the pillar taken as the SW portico corner was placed in the 18th or 19th century.

    Directed by F. Maier[43]

• Project websitePalaipaphos (Kouklia): Swiss-German mission, Konstanz then Zürichhist.uzh.ch
• Kouklia-Marchelloarchaeology.wiki

1. 1.F. G. Maier, 2004, Guide to Palaipaphos (Kouklia).
2. 2.V. Karageorghis, 1967, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1966, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 91.
3. 3.Louise Steel, 2003, Archaeology in Cyprus 1997–2002, Archaeological Reports 50.
4. 4.F. G. Maier, V. Karageorghis, 1984, Paphos: History and Archaeology.
5. 5.A. Hermary, 2014, In memoriam : Franz-Georg Maier (1926–2014), Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 44.
6. 6.V. Karageorghis, 1969, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1968, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 93.
7. 7.V. Karageorghis, 1970, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1969, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 94.
8. 8.V. Karageorghis, 1972, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1971, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 96.
9. 9.Louise Steel, 1997, Archaeology in Cyprus 1987–1997, Archaeological Reports.
10. 10.V. Karageorghis, 1968, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1967, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 92.
11. 11.V. Karageorghis, 1973, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1972, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 97.
12. 12.A. Georgiou, 2016, The White Painted Wheelmade III ware from the Evreti Wells, Feasting, Craft and Depositional Practice in Late Bronze Age Palaepaphos: The Well Fillings of Evreti.
13. 13.V. Karageorghis, 1984, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1983, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 108.
14. 14.V. Karageorghis, 1985, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1984, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 109.
15. 15.V. Karageorghis, 1971, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1970, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 95.
16. 16.F. G. Maier, 1997, A hundred years after Hogarth: Digging at Aphrodite's Sanctuary at Palaipaphos, Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 27.
17. 17.V. Karageorghis, 1974, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1973, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 98.
18. 18.V. Karageorghis, 1977, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1976, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 101.
19. 19.V. Karageorghis, 1976, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1975, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 100.
20. 20.V. Karageorghis, 1978, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1977, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 102.
21. 21.V. Karageorghis, 1980, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1979, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 104.
22. 22.V. Karageorghis, 1981, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1980, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 105.
23. 23.V. Karageorghis, 1988, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1987, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 112.
24. 24.D. J. Symons, 1986–1987, Archaeology in Cyprus, 1981–85, Archaeological Reports 33.
25. 25.F. G. Maier, 1992, A tomb of Paphian Kings: the 'Spilaion tis Regainas' at Kouklia-Arkalon, Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 18.
26. 26.F. G. Maier, M.-L. von Wartburg, 1967–1997, Excavations at Kouklia (Palaepaphos): First to Eighteenth Preliminary Reports (seasons 1966 to 1995), Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus.
27. 27.F. G. Maier, M.-L. von Wartburg, 1967–1998, Ausgrabungen in Alt-Paphos: Vorläufige Berichte (1st to 17th), Archäologischer Anzeiger.
28. 28.E. Erdmann, 1977, Nordosttor und persische Belagerungsrampe. I. Waffen und Kleinfunde, Ausgrabungen in Alt-Paphos auf Cypern 1.
29. 29.F. G. Maier, 2008, Nordost-Tor und Belagerungsrampe. II. Grabungs- und Baubefund, Ausgrabungen in Alt-Paphos auf Cypern 6.
30. 30.D. Leibundgut Wieland, L. Frey, 2011, Weihgeschenke aus dem Heiligtum der Aphrodite in Alt-Paphos. Terrakotten, Skulpturen und andere figürliche Kleinvotive, Ausgrabungen in Alt-Paphos auf Cypern 7.
31. 31.D. Leibundgut Wieland, V. Tatton-Brown, 2019, Nordost-Tor und persische Belagerungsrampe in Alt-Paphos. IV. Skulpturen, Votivmonumente und Bauteile in der Belagerungsrampe, Ausgrabungen in Alt-Paphos auf Cypern 9.
32. 32.M.-L. von Wartburg, 2019, Ausgrabungen in Alt-Paphos. 18. Vorläufiger Bericht: Grabungskampagnen 2007–2008, Archäologischer Anzeiger.