Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Finder

David J. Nixon

b. 1950 · United Kingdom

Found the Aetokremnos rock shelter on the Akrotiri Peninsula in 1961, aged 11; the site later figured in the debate on the earliest human presence on Cyprus.

Biography

In 1961 David J. Nixon, aged 11, found the rock shelter of Aetokremnos while exploring the steep south cliffs of the Akrotiri Peninsula, where his father, a British serviceman, was stationed1. The Department of Antiquities received a report of the discovery1.

The shelter later became central to the debate on the earliest human presence on Cyprus and on the extinction of the island's pygmy hippopotamus, a subject treated in Alan H. Simmons's volume on the site1. A 2006 guidebook to Cyprus names a David Nixon as the discoverer of Akrotiri Aetokremnos2.

Life and work

  1. 1961
    Aged 11, the son of a British serviceman at RAF Western Sovereign Base Area, discovered the Aetokremnos rock shelter while exploring the cliffs on the south face of the Akrotiri Peninsula.

    AkrotiriAlan H. Simmons (1999). Faunal Extinction in an Island Society: Pygmy Hippopotamus Hunters of Cyprus. New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum, p. 1

  2. 1961
    Simmons (p. 3) records that the Department of Antiquities received a report of Nixon's discovery.

    Alan H. Simmons (1999). Faunal Extinction in an Island Society: Pygmy Hippopotamus Hunters of Cyprus. New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum, p. 3

  3. 1961
    Eleven-year-old boy who found strange-looking bones and chipped stone artifacts at Aetokremnos in 1961 and collected several of them.

    Alan H. Simmons; Katelyn DiBenedetto (2014). Stone Age Sailors: Paleolithic Seafaring in the Mediterranean. Walnut Creek, CA, Left Coast Press, Inc.. p. 133.

  4. 1961
    Eleven-year-old boy who found strange bones and chipped stone artifacts at Aetokremnos in 1961, collected several and noted the site's location.

    Alan H. Simmons (2014). Stone Age Sailors: Paleolithic Seafaring in the Mediterranean. pp. 9–20. Left Coast Press, Inc.. p. 133.

  5. 1961
  6. 2006
    McDonald's Explorer Cyprus names David Nixon as discoverer of Akrotiri Aetokremnos.

    George McDonald (2006). Explorer Cyprus. AA Publishing, revised fifth edition, p. 102

  7. Undated
    Earlier discoverer who recorded Aetokremnos, took bone and stone objects to the British Museum (Natural History), and wrote to the Cypriot Department of Antiquities.

    Alan H. Simmons (2014). Stone Age Sailors: Paleolithic Seafaring in the Mediterranean. pp. 9–20. Left Coast Press, Inc.. p. 134.

Through their hands

2 records

Came from

Own excavations
Sources not named1961
David J. Nixon

Went to

British Museum (Natural History)
Passed onWho objects came from and went to, as the sources record it
  1. 1961

    AcquisitionDavid J. Nixon collected several of the chipped stone artifacts he found at Aetokremnos.

    several chipped stone artifactsSimmons 1999, p. 1

  2. n.d.

    TransferDavid J. Nixon brought the objects he collected to the British Museum (Natural History).

    Passed objects to British Museum (Natural History)several chipped stone artifactsLondonSimmons 1999, p. 1

In the field

1 record

Aetokremnos, Akrotiri Peninsula

1961

  • Found · 1961David J. Nixon came across the Aetokremnos deposit and found bones and chipped stone artifacts.

    bones and chipped stone artifacts at the Aetokremnos depositSimmons 1999, p. 1

Connections

1 person

Sales, gifts & bequests

Recording and study

1 record
Corresponded with1

Mentioned in

7 mentions

Documents · 4

Institutions · 2

Sources

  1. 1.Alan H. Simmons (1999). Faunal Extinction in an Island Society: Pygmy Hippopotamus Hunters of Cyprus. New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
  2. 2.George McDonald (2006). “Explorer Cyprus”. AA Publishing, revised fifth edition.
  3. 3.Alan H. Simmons; Katelyn DiBenedetto (2014). Stone Age Sailors: Paleolithic Seafaring in the Mediterranean. Walnut Creek, CA, Left Coast Press, Inc.. p. 133..
  4. 4.Alan H. Simmons (2014). Stone Age Sailors: Paleolithic Seafaring in the Mediterranean. pp. 9–20. Left Coast Press, Inc.. p. 133..
  5. 5.Geoffrey A. Clark (1991). Perspectives on the Past: Theoretical Biases in Mediterranean Hunter-Gatherer Research. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 288..
  6. 6.Alan H. Simmons (2014). Stone Age Sailors: Paleolithic Seafaring in the Mediterranean. pp. 9–20. Left Coast Press, Inc.. p. 134..
  7. 7.Alan H. Simmons; Katelyn DiBenedetto, Stone Age Sailors: Paleolithic Seafaring in the Mediterranean (2014).
  8. 8.Geoffrey A. Clark, Perspectives on the Past: Theoretical Biases in Mediterranean Hunter-Gatherer Research (1991).

Corrections and additions

Did you know this person?

We would like to hear from relatives, colleagues and anyone who knows more about this person's life and work.

We would like to hear about

  • Dates and places of birth and death
  • Other spellings or names they used
  • Photographs, letters or papers
  • Their work, collections or excavations
  • A mistake in what we say
Write to us

or alexis@ancientcyprus.com

If this page is about you, write to us and we will correct it or take it down. Tell us if you would like to be thanked by name on the page.