British Kouklia Expedition (Liverpool/St Andrews Expedition to Palaepaphos)

Finds divided in 1955 under the pre-1960 Antiquities Law; the Expedition's share was exported, nearly all to Britain, with Asproyi Tomb IV allocated to the Nicholson Museum, Sydney. Catling records the tomb finds as spread over six museums (Kouklia, Nicosia, St Andrews, Liverpool, Birmingham, Sydney). (2020)

Catling 2020

1. 1949
   On a bicycle tour in the summer (August, per the Guide) of 1949 Iliffe and Mitford heard of Archaic sculpture found in a mound outside Kouklia and decided to dig there; they obtained a licence and persuaded the Liverpool Museums and the University of St Andrews to pay for the work.

   KoukliaJohn Henry (Harry) IliffeTerence Bruce MitfordMaier 1997Maier 2004

2. 1950
   Director of Antiquities A. H. S. Megaw first granted only a permit for soundings in a wide area, which should not impair the sites as targets for other excavators. After the first season he wrote that he had never encountered a dig so free from 'psychological blood, sweat and tears'.

   KoukliaArthur Hubert Stanley MegawMaier 1997

3. 1950
   Four-week trial excavation (June-July) at Old Paphos by Mitford and Iliffe, the first work there since the Cyprus Exploration Fund's in the sanctuary of Aphrodite. West of the 1887 clearance a deep stratified sequence over a Mycenaean layer with copper slag was found; on the Marcello hill a mound with Archaic stone statues and syllabic dedications was investigated. J. S. Last was surveyor; J. R. B. Stewart financed the season.

   KoukliaTerence Bruce MitfordJohn Henry (Harry) IliffeJ. S. LastJames Rivers Barrington StewartMrs. A. R. BurnMitford & Iliffe 1951Megaw 1951

4. 1951
   A licence was issued valid for the maximum two years, renewable, limited to areas specified by plot number, but giving the expedition first refusal of other sites within the large area of the 1950 soundings.

   KoukliaMaier 1997

5. 1951
   Tomb excavation began: Skales Tombs I-II (J. B. Hennessy) and Asproyi Tomb I.

   Skales, KoukliaBasil HennessyCatling 2020Karageorghis 1983

6. 1952
   Eight partly disturbed Late Cypriot III tombs excavated at Evreti (directed by G. R. H. Wright); tomb 8 gave two silver bowls, an ivory mirror-handle with a man slaying a lion, gold jewellery and finger-rings. The expedition also resumed soundings at Nea Paphos, joined by a French mission under J. Berard.

   Kouklia and Nea PaphosGeorge Roy Haslam WrightJean BérardMegaw 1953Catling 2020Maier 2008, p. 55

7. 1953
   Mitford, assisted by E. M. Hunter, searched unsuccessfully for more Evreti tombs and moved to Asproyi (Tombs II-XI) and Kaminia; also continued work on the Persian siege-mound. P. L. Shinnie made a trial excavation on Site F, 3-27 July. Hunter wrote the tomb descriptions for a Glasgow dissertation.

   KoukliaTerence Bruce MitfordEthel M. HunterP. L. ShinnieAnne BattershillCharles BurneyCatling 2020Megaw 1954Maier 1997

8. 1954–1955
   No new excavations in 1954; Iliffe made supplementary investigations at the siege-mound, confirming a city gate with twin towers. In 1955 operations were again restricted to the siege-mound. B. C. S. Wilson was surveyor; F. G. Maier was director of Site A (1953-55).

   KoukliaJohn Henry (Harry) IliffeB. C. S. WilsonFranz Georg MaierMegaw 1954Megaw 1955Hermary 2014

9. 1955
   Division of finds under the pre-1960 Antiquities Law: the Expedition's share was exported, nearly all to Britain (Liverpool, St Andrews, Birmingham). Asproyi Tomb IV, with its records, went to the Nicholson Museum, Sydney, in consideration of financial support from Sydney University, and was shipped with only a superficial inventory.

   CyprusCatling 2020

10. 1958–1959
    Mitford invited H. W. Catling to study and publish all the Expedition's tombs; Megaw generously allowed work in the Cyprus Museum before Catling left Cyprus in 1959.

    NicosiaHector CatlingTerence Bruce MitfordArthur Hubert Stanley MegawCatling 2020

11. 1966
    F. G. Maier resumed excavation at Palaepaphos for the Swiss-German expedition, ten years after the British Expedition ended; the 1950-55 work had been continued from the Cyprus Exploration Fund's of 1888.

    KoukliaFranz Georg MaierCatling 2020

12. 1966–1967
    Catling's sabbatical year from the Ashmolean: sustained study of the material in Nicosia, Kouklia, St Andrews, Liverpool and Birmingham. A lengthy dispute over the publication rights and dispersal of the excavation records delayed publication; some records were recovered only in December 2009.

    Nicosia, Kouklia, St Andrews, Liverpool, BirminghamHector CatlingCatling 2020

13. 1979
    Catling, 'The St. Andrews-Liverpool Museums Kouklia Tomb Excavation 1950-1954', RDAC 1979, 270-275 (preliminary summary).

    Hector CatlingKarageorghis 1983

14. 2020
    Posthumous full publication of the Asproyi, Evreti, Kaminia, Marcello and Skales tombs, edited by R. W. V. Catling (BAR IS 2994); Catling died in 2013.

    OxfordHector CatlingRichard W. V. CatlingCatling 2020

• Ivory mirror-handle with a man slaying a lion, from Evreti Tomb 8 (also two hemispherical silver bowls, gold jewellery and finger-rings)

  from Evreti, Kouklia1952Megaw 1953

• Decorated ivory disc, perhaps a lid, Asproyi Tomb IV (catalogue no. 106)

  from Asproyi, Kouklia1955Catling 2020

• Fortifications in Ancient Cyprus: From Khirokitia to the Siege of PaphosCompendium