Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Archaeologist · Excavator · Scholar

Peter M. Fischer

fl. 1977–2024

Gothenburg archaeologist and Paul Åström's student who took over the Hala Sultan Tekke excavations in 2009-10 and has led them as the New Swedish Cyprus Expedition.

Biography

Peter M. Fischer continued the excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke, near Larnaca, after the death of his teacher Paul Åström in October 2008. By his own account he joined Åström's dig there in 1977 as a Gothenburg student and later worked under him at Hala Sultan Tekke and Midea1. His 1980 thesis, Application of Technical Devices in Archaeology (SIMA 63), reported a ground-penetrating radar survey at the site, which he calls the first of its kind in the eastern Mediterranean1,2. A 1986 volume on prehistoric Cypriot skulls qualified him as associate professor1,3. He has also directed Tell Abu al-Kharaz in Jordan from 1989 and Tell el-Ajjul in Gaza from 19991.

Members of Åström's teams, among them Niki Eriksson, asked him to carry on, and the Department of Antiquities granted him a permit on 1 September 20091. Digging resumed in April 2010 in a new Area 6, north-west of Åström's Area 8, to look for the earliest remains of the town1. Göransson describes him as professor of Cypriote archaeology at Gothenburg, digging every spring since 2010, with a new city quarter found and radar work in 2012 suggesting a town of up to 50 hectares4. With Teresa Bürge he published preliminary reports in Opuscula in 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020 and the volume Two Late Cypriot City Quarters at Hala Sultan Tekke (SIMA 147, 2018)6,7,8,9.

Life and work

  1. 1977
    As Åström's student at Gothenburg, took part for the first time in his excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke; further seasons under Åström in the following decade at Hala Sultan Tekke and at Midea in Greece.

    Hala Sultan TekkeFischer 2012, p. 6

  2. 1980
    Ground-penetrating radar survey at Hala Sultan Tekke, described by him as the first GPR survey ever conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean (summer 1980 per the Department's report); published in his doctoral dissertation, Application of Technical Devices in Archaeology, SIMA 63 (Göteborg 1980), written under Åström's supervision.

    Hala Sultan TekkeNicolaou 1981Fischer 2012, p. 6

  3. October 2008
    After Åström died in October 2008, Niki Eriksson and other members of his Hala Sultan Tekke teams approached Fischer to continue the excavation, although he was already directing missions at Tell Abu al-Kharaz (Jordan, from 1989) and Tell el-Ajjul (Gaza, from 1999).

    Fischer 2012, p. 6

  4. 1 September 2009
    Received permission from the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus to continue the exploration of Hala Sultan Tekke; he says his application was supported and granted by the Director Dr Maria Hadjicosti and the then acting director Dr Marina Solomidou-Ieronymidou.

    NicosiaFischer 2012, p. 6

  5. April 2010
    Resumed excavation at Hala Sultan Tekke as the New Swedish Cyprus Expedition (the Söderberg Expedition), in a new Area 6 northwest of Åström's Area 8, to find the earliest remains of the town; season every spring since 2010 (Göransson 2012). Georadar in 2012 pointed to a city perhaps 50 ha in extent.

    Hala Sultan TekkeFischer 2012, p. 6Recke 2012

  6. 2011–2020
    Preliminary season reports with T. Bürge in Opuscula (e.g. 2012 season in Opuscula 6, 2014 in 8, 2017 in 11, 2019 in 13); later 'Two Late Cypriot City Quarters at Hala Sultan Tekke: The Söderberg Expedition 2010-2017', SIMA 147 (2018).

    Fischer & Bürge 2013, p. 46-79Fischer & Bürge 2015, pp. 27-79Fischer & Bürge 2018Fischer & Bürge 2020, pp. 73-111

Connections

24 people
Marina Solomidou-Ieronymi…Paul ÅströmKirsi O. LorentzSorin HermonSvetlana GasanovaBebelyn Placiente RobedizoAthos AgapiouTeresa BürgeYuko MiyauchiLaura E. AlvarezRainer FeldbacherSilvia FlorindiAlexander R. E. LoddingCecilia ErikssonJörgen G. NorénSila KayalpMarina FakaBianca CasaSimone A. M. LemmersNatalie M. BrancaValentina VassalloMaria HadjicostiBettina StolleNiki ErikssonPeter M. Fischer
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Fieldwork & employment

Scholarship

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On Ancient Cyprus

4 pages

Sources

  1. 1.P. M. Fischer (2012). “SIMA and the New Swedish Cyprus Expedition at Hala Sultan Tekke”. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology: Fifty Years On, 73-80. Uppsala.
  2. 2.P. M. Fischer (1980). Application of Technical Devices in Archaeology. Göteborg.
  3. 3.Peter M. Fischer (1986). Prehistoric Cypriot Skulls: A medico-anthropological, archaeological and micro-analytical investigation. Göteborg, Paul Åströms Förlag.
  4. 4.Matthias Recke (2012). “Deutschland und das antike Zypern. Beiträge zur Geschichte einer archäologischen Disziplin”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 42.
  5. 5.K. Nicolaou (1981). “Archaeology in Cyprus, 1976-80”. Archaeological Reports 27.
  6. 6.P. M. Fischer, T. Bürge (2013). “The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2012: Excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke. Preliminary results”. Opuscula: Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome 6, 45-79. Online
  7. 7.P. M. Fischer, T. Bürge (2015). “The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2014: excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke (The Söderberg Expedition). Preliminary results”. Opuscula: Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome 8, 27-79.
  8. 8.P. M. Fischer, T. Bürge (2018). Two Late Cypriot City Quarters at Hala Sultan Tekke: The Söderberg Expedition 2010-2017. Uppsala.
  9. 9.P. M. Fischer, T. Bürge (2020). “The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2019: Excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke (The Söderberg Expedition): Preliminary Results”. Opuscula: Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome 13, 73-111.