P. S. Gelling

Philia-Drakos and Ayios Epiktitos-Vrysi, two Neolithic sites in Cyprus, were dug under the direction of P. S. Gelling of the University of Birmingham. The reports print his initials and "Mr" only, and they say nothing of his life beyond these digs^1,7.

At Philia-Drakos the Birmingham archaeology section worked from 3 August to 20 September 1965 under Gelling and Trevor Watkins, clearing about 150 square metres to bedrock. The directors supplied the report to Vassos Karageorghis. They found red-on-white pottery that differs from Erimi ware, a flint knife, small black steatite axes, and rock-cut shafts, chambers and tunnels beneath the settlement, which was placed at the end of the Neolithic or the start of the Chalcolithic^1,5. Work resumed in 1967 and 1968 as a British mission under the patronage of the Universities of Edinburgh and Birmingham, with Gelling and Watkins directing. It uncovered a complete one-room house, parts of two more, an enclosure wall and stone bowls set in a floor^2,6,8.

At Ayios Epiktitos-Vrysi, Edgar J. Peltenburg had found sherds in 1966 and revisited the site in April 1969. Birmingham mounted a preliminary campaign from 1 to 20 September 1969 under Gelling and Peltenburg, who wrote the report³. A second season followed in August and September 1971 for the Universities of Glasgow and Birmingham⁴. From 1972 the excavation was run for Glasgow by Peltenburg alone⁷.