Diving into the Past: Archival Research Results of the Cyprus Coastal Assessment Project and the History of the First Underwater Archaeological Explorations in Cyprus

Panayiotis Theofanous presents a paper co-authored with Maria Volikou and Despina Pilides of the Department of Antiquities, setting out archival findings from the Cyprus Coastal Assessment Project (CCAP). Launched in September 2019 with funding from the Onassis Foundation and the Government of Cyprus, CCAP maps underwater and coastal sites to support maritime spatial planning and heritage protection. Its first phase combines GIS mapping and hydrographic data with a study of the administrative archives of the Department of Antiquities, press archives and reported chance finds.

The paper traces attention to maritime remains in British-period Cyprus before the invention of scuba gear. It notes observations of coastal structures at Palaepaphos in 1887 to 1888 by D. G. Hogarth and his colleagues, and work by the Cyprus Exploration Fund identifying harbour remains at Soli in 1889 and mapping reefs and quays at Salamis in 1890. In 1900 George Jeffery campaigned through the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings against the removal of stones from medieval Famagusta for harbour works, retrieving the ancient port chain after dredging. Between 1935 and 1938 Joan du Plat Taylor excavated the ancient harbour of Karpasia at Ayios Philon.

Actual underwater surveys began in the 1950s, carried out largely by British military sub-aqua clubs supplied with compressed air by the local firm Hadjikyriakos & Sons. In July 1954 the Mercury Divers of the 2nd Wireless Regiment in Famagusta reported Venetian and Turkish wrecks, and a soldier diver received an export licence for an amphora from Salamis. In August 1954 the Cyprus District Headquarters Sub-Aqua Club surveyed the harbours of Salamis under a permit from Director of Antiquities Peter Megaw, assisted by Tom Dupree and his yacht Kyrenia, recovering a sixth-century BC terracotta head, vessels and ship planks. Concerned by unregulated diving, Porphyrios Dikaios consulted Professor Orlandos in Athens in October 1954 on Greek underwater rules.

In 1955 the Cyprus Underwater Expedition at Bogaz drew scrutiny from survey officer Hector Catling, who suspected unreported finds from Cape Elaia. Later military surveys included Blashford-Snell's Operation Aphrodite at Paphos (1959 to 1961), an unauthorised RAF Nicosia dive in Kyrenia harbour in 1960 that was halted and had its recovered amphora confiscated, and a Roman wreck reported off Akrotiri. By the mid-1960s, new department policy restricted underwater survey permits to scientific teams led by archaeologists.