Archaeologist · Excavator · Scholar
Michael K. Toumazou
fl. 1989–2024 · Cyprus
Classical archaeologist at Davidson College who founded the Athienou Archaeological Project and has excavated the Malloura valley in Cyprus since 1990.
Biography
Michael K. Toumazou founded the Athienou Archaeological Project (AAP) after a visit to his mother's hometown in 1989. A native of Cyprus, he studied at Franklin and Marshall, Loyola Chicago and Bryn Mawr, and teaches classics at Davidson College in North Carolina1. He had gone to Cyprus to find a site and was inclined towards a prehistoric one. In Athienou, Giorgos Koursaris showed him Malloura, where farmers had found antiquities and where there were looted tombs. He was convinced by the threat from intensive agriculture, and Mayor Kostas Sakkalos and Christos Hadjiyannakou persuaded him that work there was imperative. Nikos Mouyiaris, an Athienou native living in New York, paid for the first seasons1.
Excavation and survey in the Malloura valley began in 19902. In the 1991 season, supported by a Dumbarton Oaks Foundation grant, the project relocated the rural sanctuary that a French mission had found in 1862 and that was later looted1,4. The project also excavated chamber tombs at Magara Tepesi1. By 2010 it had completed fifteen field seasons, working with P. Nick Kardulias and Derek B. Counts, who are associate directors1. The finds are lodged in Cyprus under permits of the Department of Antiquities, and published pieces are credited to the Larnaka District Museum1. Toumazou, Kardulias and Counts edited a volume on the archaeology of the Malloura valley, published by the American Schools of Oriental Research in 20111.
Life and work
- 1989Travelled to Cyprus to identify a site for excavation. On a visit to Athienou, his mother's hometown, Giorgos Koursaris showed him the Malloura area, where farmers had found ancient artifacts and there were looted tombs. He was disposed to excavate a prehistoric site but was convinced of the need to investigate Malloura because intensive agriculture threatened it; mayor Kostas Sakkalos and Christos Hadjiyannakou persuaded him it was 'imperative'.
AthienouToumazou et al. 2011
- 1989–1990Nikos Mouyiaris, a native of Athienou living in New York, funded the initial seasons; the acknowledgments say without his contribution the project would not even have started. The arrangement with the municipality was verbal, not a written agreement.
AthienouToumazou et al. 2011
- 1990Began excavation and survey in the Malloura valley near Athienou for Davidson College; AAP worked from 1990 under permits of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus.
- 1990–2010AAP completed 15 seasons of field excavation in the Malloura Valley by the time of the 2011 volume; funding came mainly from Davidson College, plus NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates sites from 1995, NEH and Dumbarton Oaks grants.
AthienouToumazou et al. 2011
- 1990–2010Finds from Malloura are lodged under the Cyprus Department of Antiquities: published AAP-AM terracotta and limestone pieces are credited to the Larnaka District Museum; the Cyprus Museum Conservation Department conserved coins and metal artifacts. Coins and other metal finds conserved by Andreas Georgiades.
LarnacaToumazou et al. 2011
- 1991Relocated the Malloura sanctuary (discovered 1862 by the French mission of de Vogue, later looted, hundreds of statues illegally exported); reported in Toumazou, Yerkes & Kardulias 1992. The 1991 season was supported by a Dumbarton Oaks Foundation grant.
Athienou-MallouraToumazou et al. 2011Toumazou et al. 1992
- 1991–1993A cemetery (EU 6) with Venetian-period and earlier burials was excavated at Malloura; Cypro-Archaic II to Roman rock-cut tombs at Magara Tepesi 300 m north of the sanctuary were also excavated by AAP (Tomb 25 plan dated 1993).
AthienouToumazou et al. 2011
- 2003Awarded Davidson College's Hunter-Hamilton Love of Teaching Award.
Connections
22 peopleSales, gifts & bequests
- Received from Nikos Mouyiaris1989
Fieldwork & employment
- Guided by Giorgos Koursaris1989
- Had digging done by Alec Macalister1990
- Employed Diane Stirlingprobably1990
- Employed Erin Casey1990
- Had digging done by Joseph A. Parvis1990–1999
Scholarship
- Wrote with S. Papamarinopoulos1991–1992
- Wrote with Richard W. Yerkes1992
- Wrote with P. Nick Kardulias1998–2011
- Wrote with Derek B. Counts2003–2020
- Wrote with Clay M. Cofer2020
- Wrote with Erin Walcek Averett2020
- Wrote with Katherine A. P. Iselin2020
- Wrote with Kevin Garstki2020
Colleagues & contacts
- Connected with Christos Hadjiyannakou1989
- Met Giorgos Koursaris1989
- Worked with Kostas Sakkalos1989
- Worked with Apostolos Sarris1990–1995
- Worked with Derek B. Counts1990
- Worked with P. Nick Kardulias1990–2011
- Worked with Walter Payne1990
- Worked with Richard W. Yerkes1991–1997
- Worked with Erin Walcek Averett1997
- Worked with Elisabetta Covapossibly2011
- Connected with Joseph A. Greene2011
- Worked with Sabine Fourrier2011
- Worked with Alicia Marie Dissingerprobably
- Worked with Clay M. Coferprobably
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- Worked with Nikos Mouyiaris
On Ancient Cyprus
1 page- AthienouSite
Sources
- 1.M. K. Toumazou (ed.), P. N. Kardulias (ed.), D. B. Counts (ed.) (2011). Crossroads and Boundaries: The Archaeology of Past and Present in the Malloura Valley, Cyprus.
- 2.Ellen Herscher (1995). “Archaeology in Cyprus”. American Journal of Archaeology 99, 257-294.
- 3.Louise Steel (1997-1998). “Archaeology in Cyprus 1987-1997”. Archaeological Reports 44, 137-149.
- 4.M. K. Toumazou, R. W. Yerkes, P. N. Kardulias (1992). “Excavation and Survey in the Malloura Valley, Central Cyprus: The 1991 Season”. Old World Archaeology Newsletter 15, 18-23.
- 5.M. K. Toumazou, R. W. Yerkes, P. N. Kardulias (1998). “Athienou Archaeological Project: Investigations in the Malloura Valley, Cyprus, 1990-1995”. Journal of Field Archaeology 25, 163-182.
- 6.D. B. Counts, M. K. Toumazou (2003). “Artemis at Athienou-Malloura”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 33, 237-251.