CAARI NEWS
CYPRUS AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Number 45
Fall 2013
From the Trenches on Cyprus
We have invited several CAARI Trustees who are currently running projects on Cyprus
to share with the readers of CAARI News brief reports on their recent work on the island. In the
five short articles that follow, you will read the gist of what’s been happening, as seen “from the
trenches on Cyprus.”—The Editors
Early Neolithic at Ais Yiorkis Alan Simmons
Inside this Issue
From the Trenches on Cyprus
Ais Yiorkis ............................. 1
Archaeology and the
Economy on Cyprus: A View
from Nicosia ........................ 2
President’s Report ................ 3
Recent Program Events at
CAARI .................................. 4
32nd Archaeological
Workshop ............................ 5
Fulbright Senior Fellow’s
Report: Young Kim ............ 5
From the Trenches on Cyprus
Politiko Troullia .................. 6
Atheniou ............................. 6
Maroni, Kalavasos, Zygi
and Tochni ......................... 7
Polis ..................................... 7
Report on CAARI Development from Vice President
Annemarie Weyl Carr ........ 8
Donors to CAARI ................ 9
Fulbright Junior Fellow’s
Report: Katie Kearns...10–11
This past summer CAARI
Trustee Professor Alan Simmons of
the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
(UNLV) led a team of archaeologists
at the early Neolithic site of Ais
Yiorkis. In addition to students from
UNLV, Stony Brook (New York),
and Cyprus, a field school from the
University of Edinburgh directed by
Dr. Paul Croft also participated. The
work was funded by the National
Science Foundation, the National
Geographic Society, and the WennerGren Foundation for Anthropological Alan Simmons shows off the caches of flint blades.
Research.
Ais Yiorkis is one of a handful of sites belonging to a newly identified early
Neolithic phase (ca. 7,800 cal. B.C.) on Cyprus. Located in the Troodos foothills, it
stands out from other early Neolithic sites on the island, which are all found along
the coast. This season resulted in several important discoveries. In addition to the
fuller exposure of structures and pits, we also found oval platforms never before
documented on the island. Among the very rich assemblage of chipped stone (which
included imported obsidian) were two caches of flint blades. From one of these caches
we were able to reassemble two original cores. Ground stone tools and ornaments
manufactured from picrolite also were recovered. Well-preserved paleobotanical
remains included some of the earliest directly dated domesticated plants in the
Near East. The site also yielded the second largest early Neolithic faunal assemblage
on Cyprus (after that of Akrotiri Aetokremnos, also excavated by Simmons). Among the faunal remains were cattle,
previously thought to have been introduced only in the much later Bronze Age. Now, however, cattle bones have been
found in small quantities at three early Neolithic sites on the island. Ais Yiorkis is important since it demonstrates that the
early Neolithic settlers of Cyprus had a diverse economic strategy and were not restricted to coastal areas. In a broader
sense, the site is significant as evidence for early seafaring and colonization of the Mediterranean islands.
From the Trenches... (continued on p. 6)
CAARI NEWS
1
Archaeology and the Economy on Cyprus: A View from Nicosia
Andrew P. McCarthy
Events in Cyprus do not often make
international front-page news, but 2013 seems to
have been a year that this small country shook the
very foundations of the European, and indeed global
economies. Cyprus had developed its banking sector
in earnest over decades, as a strategic bridge between
east and west and eventually as a member of the
Eurozone. As an “offshore” bank for depositors from
many countries, especially Russia, Cyprus enjoyed
“salad days” of steady growth, and in turn made its
own investments in other economies. A growing lack
of economic diversity meant that Cyprus was very
vulnerable to tremors in places where the island had
invested money. When Greece’s financial crisis hit,
Cyprus suffered. It was clear that Cyprus was on the
path to economic disaster and could survive only with
financial assistance from the European Union. The
extreme austerity measures implemented called into
question whether Cyprus should even remain in the
Eurozone. This crisis threatened the very core of the
Euro currency and the European Union in general.
CAARI was caught in the middle of this crisis,
although we had thankfully drawn down much of
our money held in Cyprus. Some austerity measures
are still in place, and indeed the future of the Cypriot
economy is still very much in question; but the country
is trying to return to a semblance of normality. The
average Cypriot’s resilience to adversity and the
island’s typical hard-working attitude have clicked into
place. Many businesses and governmental offices have
taken major losses, but work carries on with hope of
recouping some of the loss. That said, the situation is
quite bleak, especially for young people without work.
In archaeology also things are decidedly
gloomy, and opportunities for archaeological work in
Cyprus, foreign and local, have diminished. Even at
the highest levels, the government has chosen not to
appoint a Director of the Department of Antiquities
after the retirement of Dr. Maria Hadjicosti at the end
of 2012. The directorial responsibilities instead are
shared between two alternating Acting Directors, Dr.
Despo Pilides and Dr. Marina Solomidou-Ieronymidou.
Thankfully, they are both skilled and knowledgeable
and work well with each other. We are indeed fortunate
to have this pair at the helm, but this arrangement
of alternating Acting Directors will continue for an
indeterminate period. Furthermore, local and foreign
archaeological missions in Cyprus have had to deal
with reduced student enrollments, the tightening of
budgets, and many have had to cope with the austerity
measures implemented in Cyprus.
As if things were not dark enough, the
increasing tensions in neighboring countries such
as Egypt and Syria have deepened anxiety in the
region. Cyprus is close enough to the hotspots of the
“Arab Spring” that we fall within the larger reticule of
those with their eyes on the region. Indeed Cyprus is
bracing itself for waves of Syrian refugees and asylum
seekers that are expected to arrive in the future. The
exploitation of gas resources in the Mediterranean in
coming years is sure to be of value to Cyprus, but the
economic benefits will take time to be realized and may
raise other issues. In spite of these problems, Cyprus
looks increasingly like a comparatively safe harbor
in very rough seas. For archaeology this is especially
true, as many projects on the mainland are cancelled
and project directors and funding bodies are seeking
new opportunities for study and research. These global
crises have not diminished CAARI’s resolve to provide
resources and assistance for projects, scholars and
students coming to Cyprus. Archaeology and history
can serve as a bridge between cultures, and Cyprus’
strategic location provides good possibilities to explore
past and present relations between east and west,
mainland and island cultures and between religions,
peoples and politics.
CAARI continues to invest in ways that will
benefit future generations of archaeologists. With the
completion of the renovation of the CAARI Library
and J.R. Stewart Residence this February, we have
turned our attention to the expansion of the Library
and to developing our laboratories and research
facilities. We continue to maintain our program, and
the spring Lecture Series and CAARI/Department of
Antiquities Annual Archaeological Workshop (see
p. 5) were great successes. We are looking forward to a
full and exciting program for the autumn, winter and
spring of 2013–14. CAARI has also joined Facebook in
order to make announcements timely and more widely
distributed.
I encourage each of you to pay a visit to
CAARI this year, to see where we have come and
where we are going. In the face of much larger
geopolitical crises in Cyprus and in surrounding
countries, CAARI has continued to flourish, but only
through the support from our local and international
friends and sponsors. I look forward to seeing you in
Nicosia.
2—CAARI NEWS—
President’s Report
Raymond C. Ewing
At the April 2013 meeting of the CAARI Board of Trustees in Indianapolis, it was decided to delay completion
of the library expansion project until 2014. Given the very unsettled financial and economic challenges facing Cyprus,
it was felt that it would be best to postpone authorizing tenders. The board, however, is fully committed to seeing the
project to completion.
The two-story underground expansion will provide badly needed storage space. The renovations of the
existing Library described in the Spring 2013 CAARI News were an essential first phase of the project which is being
funded by a matching grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and by contributions by the
Diana Melvin Trust, former CAARI President Andrew Oliver, and many Trustees, former Trustees, and loyal CAARI
supporters. Thank you to all for your generosity.
In Indianapolis the Board of Trustees elected eight new Trustees to three-year terms beginning July 1, 2013, and
ending June 30, 2016. Four of the new Trustees are based in the United States. They are Erin Averett, Celia Bergoffen,
Nancy Serwint and Brian Shelburne. Nancy Serwint, a former CAARI Director, served previously as a Trustee, as did
Brian Shelburne. CAARI’s By-Laws require a hiatus of at least one year before previous trustees can be re-elected. We
welcome these four to the CAARI Board of Trustees and look forward to their service.
The other four newly elected Trustees are based in Cyprus. They are Maria Kyriacou, Constantinos Loizides,
and Eftyvoulos Paraskevaides, who are also members of the CAARI Cyprus Advisory Board, and Alison South. We are
grateful to Michael Toumazou, Chair, and the members of the Nominating Committee for recommending an excellent
slate of new Trustees.
We are very pleased that the CAARI Board of Trustees at this time has a total of eight members based in
Cyprus. In addition to the four newly elected members, the other four include Advisory Board members Chris
Christodoulou, Achilleas Demetriades, and Manthos Mavrommatis. In addition, Trustee A. Bernard Knapp lives in
Nicosia.
In other news, Trustee Derek Counts is the new chair of the Fellowship Committee, taking over from Steven
Falconer who continues as a member of the committee. Laina Swiny has joined Joseph Greene as co-chair of the
Newsletter Committee and co-editor of CAARI News. We thank these and all Trustees and officers for the work and
time they give on behalf of CAARI.
I would like to take this occasion to express particular appreciation for the service of Trustee Stuart Swiny.
Stuart has been intimately involved with CAARI for the past 35 years ever since he served as CAARI Director from
1980 to 1995. After coming to the University of Albany as a professor and Director of the Institute of Cypriot Studies,
he served several terms as a member of the CAARI Board of Trustees. His latest term ended on June 30, 2013. Stuart is
already greatly missed, but his support for CAARI continues and Trustees look to him for sage counsel. His wisdom,
good sense, and vast experience are invaluable to CAARI.
The next meetings of the Board of Trustees are in Baltimore in November and, happily, at CAARI in Nicosia in
May 2014. This will facilitate the participation of our Cyprus-based Trustees and allow all Trustees the opportunity to
see the renovated library and the work in progress on the underground space. This will be the first Board meeting on
the island in some years, and we look forward to it.
Your contributions to CAARI make a difference. Your financial gifts will allow us to complete the Library
Expansion Project, increase CAARI’s endowment, and continue to operate CAARI effectively. Please fill out the form on
the back page of this issue of CAARI News. You may also make a gift to CAARI by using the click-and-pledge feature
on the CAARI web site, www.caari.org. CAARI looks forward to your support! Contributions are tax deductible and
will be most appreciated.
—CAARI NEWS—3
Recent Program Events at CAARI
After completion of the Library renovations in
February 2013, the CAARI Lecture Series resumed in April
with Fulbright Fellow Catherine Kearns, a Ph.D. student
at Cornell University, who gave a lecture entitled “Hidden
Surfaces: Adventures in Recovering a First Millennium
B.C.E. Regional Landscape.” The lecture was well attended
by archaeologists and geologists, Fulbright staff and the
general public. Although her talk was focused on the
Maroni/Kalavassos area as a case study, Kearns’ research
topic is very far-reaching, incorporating many aspects of
landscape and environmental archaeology (see pp. 10–11).
In May, the Lecture Series continued with Senior Fulbright
Fellow Dr. Young Kim of Calvin College who spoke on “An
‘Archaeology’ of Epiphanius of Cyprus.” St. Epiphanius
is an interesting character and important not just in the
history of Cyprus but in the history of early Christianity
as well. He was a controversial figure, however; and the
questions brought up after the presentation reflect the fact
that Epiphanius was a vocal heretic hunter and prolific
writer who helped to shape the Christian canon (see p. 5).
On June 10, CAARI held a book launch for CAARI
Trustee Professor Bernard Knapp’s new publication, The
Archaeology of Cyprus: From Earliest Prehistory through the
Bronze Age (Cambridge, 2013). This book, which includes
a significant appendix contributed by CAARI Trustee
Professor Sturt Manning, represents a major work by
Professor Knapp. It was fitting that the launch was held
where much of the writing and research was completed.
Professor James Muhly came especially for the event and
in his address offered thoughtful comments on the content
of the book and its place in the archaeological literature of
Cyprus and the Mediterranean. The book launch was very
well attended, followed by a reception held outdoors in the
CAARI garden.
Andrew P. McCarthy
Post-Workshop Reception in the CAARI Garden.
The 32nd Annual CAARI/Department of Antiquities
Archaeological Workshop was held on Saturday, June
15th. Because of the recent economic crisis, the Bank of
Cyprus Cultural Foundation was compelled to withdraw
its long-standing support of funding and venue for the
annual workshop. CAARI greatly appreciates the generous
assistance the Foundation has given over the years. CAARI
is also grateful to Piraeus Bank of Cyprus for stepping in to
take over sponsorship of the event, with special thanks to
CAARI Trustee and Chairman of the Board of Directors of
Piraeus Bank of Cyprus Mr. Constantinos Loizides. Funding
from Piraeus Bank allowed us to hold the event at the
Amphitheater of the University Senate House at the New
Campus of the University of Cyprus in Aglantzia.
The workshop was well attended with an audience
of about 170, and lectures ranging from earliest prehistory to
the medieval period (for the full program, see p. 5). The same
evening the annual CAARI pizza party filled the garden to
capacity. This event offered a good chance for senior and
junior scholars and the public to interact in a friendly and
relaxed setting, and this year’s party was typically convivial.
Staff and dignitaries from the U.S. and Australian Embassies
attended, as well as Cypriot scholars and members of the
Department of Antiquities. Excavators from Ais Yiorkis,
Athienou, Kalavassos, Kourion, Polis, Politiko, Prastio and
Yeronisos projects were particularly well represented; and
the students especially got a sample of the spirit that typifies
CAARI.
CAARI Trustee Bernard Knapp at the launch of his new book with (left
to right) Andonis Neophytou, David Sewell, Chryssanthi Papadopoulou (Leventis Fellow of Hellenic Studies, British School at Athens), and
CAARI Trustee Sturt Manning.
4—CAARI NEWS—
32nd Archaeological Workshop
The 32nd Archaeological Workshop organized by CAARI in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities was
held on Saturday, June 15th, in the Amphitheater of the University Senate House on the New Campus of the University of
Cyprus in Aglantzia, Nicosia, followed by an evening reception in the CAARI garden sponsored by Papa John’s Pizza.
8:30–8:45
Welcome and Introductory Remarks—Dr. Andrew McCarthy, CAARI Director, and
Dr. Marina Solomidou-Ieronymidou, Acting Director of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus
First Session, Derek Counts, Chair
8:45–9:00
What’s New with the Oldest Cypriots?: Recent Developments at Ais Yiorkis—Alan Simmons
9:00–9:15
Ayia Varvara Asprokremnos—Carole McCartney
9:15–9:30
Bronze Age Life and Landscapes at Politiko Troullia—Steven Falconer
9:30-9:45
Kalavassos and Maroni Built Environments Project (KAMBE)—Sturt Manning
9:45–10:00
Lycoming College Expedition to Idalion—Pamela Gaber
10:15–10:30
Excavations at Idalion—Maria Hadjicosti
10:30–10:45Idalion Plathkia—Anna Satraki
Second Session, Alison South, Chair
11:15–11:30
Athienou Archaeological Project 2012–2013—Michael Toumazou
11:30–11:45
A New Over-Life-Size “Cypriot Herakles” from Athienou Malloura—Derek Counts
11:45–12:00Kition Terra Umbra—Giorgos Georgiou
12:00–12:20
Ancient Marion and Arsinoe and the City of Gold Exhibition—Nancy Serwint and Joanna Smith
12:20–12:35
New York University Yeronisos Island Excavations 2013—Joan Breton Connelly
12:35–12.50
Byzantine and Medieval Prastio Mesorotsos—Lisa Kennan
12:50–13.00Politiko Tamasos—Fryni Hadjichristophi
13:00–13:10
Court of the Archbishopric, Nicosia—Fryni Hadjichristophi
13:10-13:20
Discussion and Closing Remarks
Finding Epiphanius in CyprusYoung R. Kim
During the 2012–13 academic year, I lived with my family in Nicosia, where I was the Senior Fulbright Research
Fellow at CAARI. Although I am a trained historian and classicist, I found a most valuable and intellectually stimulating
community among the archaeologists and other scholars who worked at CAARI while I was there. I am particularly
grateful to CAARI Director Andrew McCarthy and the CAARI staff (Vathoulla Moustoukki, Fotoulla Christodoulou,
and Katerina Mavromichalou), who went out of their way to make me feel welcome and facilitate my research, and to
new friends like Katie Kearns, Lisa Graham, Bernard Knapp, and Robert Merrillees. As many of you know, the 10 A.M.
coffee break at CAARI is a special time for conversation, cultural exchange, and not a few laughs; and it was during those
reprieves from work when I came to love Cyprus coffee. I also received substantial support and encouragement from
Chris Schabel at the University of Cyprus, my other host institution, and most of all from the staff at the Cyprus Fulbright
Commission. To all of them I owe a tremendous debt of thanks.
The Fulbright year was a momentous one; and my family and I experienced the joys and challenges of the
rhythms of daily life in Nicosia, peppered with some rather memorable events such as the remodeling of the CAARI
Library, a presidential election, and a banking crisis. We were truly blessed to meet and befriend people from Cyprus (and
indeed all over the world); and we spent many of our weekends exploring both the natural and historic beauty of the
island and its denizens, from the forests and villages of the mountains to the cities and beaches of the coast.
I spent the bulk of my time reading, conducting research, and writing my monograph (entitled Epiphanius of
Cyprus: Imagining and Orthodox World) on the life and work of Epiphanios of Cyprus, who was head bishop of the island
from 367 until his death in 403. He was and is famous for his relentless defense of what he believed to be orthodox
Christianity and for his Panarion, a massive encyclopedic tome that described the origins, beliefs, practices, and
corresponding refutation of eighty different heresies. My book examines in alternating chapters formative phases of his
life (he was a monk in Egypt, an abbot in Palestine, and bishop on Cyprus) and thematic aspects of his view of the world.
Epiphanius saw the world in black and white, and he imagined clear lines of distinction between those who belonged
within a Christian Roman empire and those who did not. In modern scholarship Epiphanios has been underappreciated
as a theologian and thinker, and my goal has been to offer a more balanced assessment of his unique contributions to the
history and culture of the early Byzantine world. I have completed the book, and I anticipate that it will be published in
the near future. A copy will, of course, find its home on one of the shelves at the CAARI library.
(continued on p. 11)
—CAARI NEWS—5
From the Trenches on Cyprus
(contined from p. 1)
Striking Finds at Politiko Troullia, 2013
During summer 2013 CAARI Trustee Steve Falconer
with Pat Fall (both of LaTrobe University, Melbourne)
led archaeological investigations that included expanded
excavations at Bronze Age Politiko Troullia, near Ayios
Irakleidios Monastery in the copper-bearing foothills of the
Troodos Mountains. Excavations through 4 m of stratified
deposits revealed an extensive Bronze Age (ca. 2000–1500
B.C.) community, the predecessor of Iron Age Tamassos,
the seat of a centrally important Cypriot kingdom. Survey
around the site showed that the terraced hills of Politiko
Troullia have been managed intensively for centuries,
beginning perhaps as early as the Bronze Age.
The 2013 excavations at Politiko Troullia focused on
the Southern Courtyard, on a large structure north of the
Northern Courtyard, and in Area H (approximately 60 m
north of the courtyards) at the site’s northern edge. Work
continued in the Southern Courtyard, where excavations in
2011 produced the first stone plank figure on Cyprus from
Nearly-complete bird-like askos from the Southern
Courtyard at Politiko Troullia.
Steve Falconer and Patricia Fall
The Northern (foreground) and Southern Courtyards.
a well-documented domestic context. This large
communal structure revealed an array of stone-lined
postholes, a large gaming stone installation, abundant
broken Red Polished Ware plank figures, and the
most striking artifact of 2013: a nearly-complete
bird-like askos. Since askoi are found commonly in
tomb deposits, this vessel adds to growing evidence
for communal, perhaps commemorative behaviors
in open public spaces. Excavations in 2011 and 2013
in Areas M, N and K revealed a collapsed agrarian
processing and storage structure ringed with
mudbrick bins, several large smashed pithoi, a 1.0 m
diameter grinding or pivot stone, and an assemblage
of jars and painted cups on a floor. In 2013 Area H
exposed a house (very similar to one excavated at
Troullia East in 2007), thereby expanding evidence
for the spatial extent of this farming and mining
community at the heart of Bronze Age Cyprus.
Tablets in the Trenches: Digging Digitally in Athienou
Jody Michael Gordon
Summer 2013 marked the 24th season of excavations by the
Athienou Archaeological Project (AAP), directed by CAARI Trustee
Michael Toumazou with fellow Trustees Derek Counts and Erin Averett
along with Nick Kardulias and Jody Gordon. As in past seasons AAP
continued to train Cypriot and American students through excavations
at the Late Geometric-Roman sanctuary at Athienou Malloura.
This was also the third season of “paperless” archaeology at
Athienou. AAP’s conversion from paper to born-digital recording began
in 2011, soon after the release of the first tablet computers. Since then,
Apple iPads equipped with dust-resistant cases, wireless keyboards,
and anti-glare screen protectors have become standard recording
devices. iPads are ideal for fieldwork because of their long battery life
and portability. Moreover, the tablets’ user-friendly, off-the-shelf apps,
such as Pages, Numbers, and iDraw, are excellent for recording notes, calculating elevations, and sketching trench elements
digitally, while the tablets’ cameras provide images that can be instantly integrated into our “digital notebooks.” During
the 2013 season we made pioneering attempts in “cloud” computing as we tested transferring data from our field iPads
to our databases in Athienou via a portable 3G wireless router. We also experimented with innovative imaging techniques
with our colleagues from the Pyla Koutsopetria Archaeological Project, Brandon Olson and R. Scott Moore (another CAARI
Trustee), who helped us create our first 3-D images of architecture using 3-D laser scanning and photogrammetry.
6—CAARI NEWS—
Geophysics and Maritime Archaeology at Maroni, Kalavasos, Zygi and Tochni
Sturt Manning
Our summer 2013 field season saw a busy program of work by an enthusiastic team from Cornell University in
collaboration with colleagues from the Universities of Edinburgh, Cyprus, Oxford, and from Australia. Key members of the
team were CAARI Trustee Sturt Manning, David Sewell, Georgia Andreou, Kevin Fisher, Carrie Fulton, Catherine Kearns,
Peregrine Gerard-Little, Jeffrey Leon, Thomas Urban, and Andy Viduka. Funding came from Cornell University, the National
Science Foundation, the Honor Frost Foundation, and others. The Department of Antiquities of Cyprus provided permission
and support, and we were much helped by other friends and colleagues in Cyprus. Two key aims this season were, first,
further to investigate, using geophysics approaches, the urban layout of Late Bronze Age Maroni and Kalavasos (ca. 1650–
1200 B.C.); and, second, to survey the seabed between and off of Tochni Lakkia and Maroni Tsaroukkas to assess the nature of
the evidence for ancient maritime trade in this area of Cyprus.
At both Maroni and Kalavasos we used a magnetometer to survey relatively large areas (nearly 1.5 hectares in total).
At Maroni the survey revealed clear rectilinear features, one of which was subsequently ground-truthed by excavation. At
Kalavasos Ayios Dhimitrios ground penetrating radar showed a large structure, 28 m north-south by 12–13 m east-west, just to
the west of the currently excavated area. In each case these techniques are enabling us to observe hitherto unknown aspects of
layout of these two important Late Bronze Age settlements.
Dives in the waters off Maroni Tsaroukkas recorded a number of archaeological features: more anchors similar to those
found during underwater explorations in the 1990s and, very interestingly, a number of large ashlar blocks. Work at Tochni
Lakkia focused on recording important Late Bronze and Iron Age strata eroding into the sea along the coast.
GPR in action at
Kalavasos Ayios
Dhimitrios. The inset
shows the image of a
large structure (some
28m north-south by
12‑13m east-west)
just to the west of the
currently excavated area
at the site. (left)
One of the large ashlar
blocks in the waters off
Maroni Tsaroukkas.
(right)
Calamity in Polis
Nancy Serwint
Early in 2013, the Princeton Cyprus Expedition received news
that no excavation team ever wants to hear: “The excavation storeroom
has been broken into.” This occurred on the night of 11–12 February. The
initial reports on the amount of damage and the extent of the theft were
sketchy, so within days, I flew out to Cyprus to inspect the situation.
Despite the efforts the excavation had made to secure the storeroom in
Polis—a sturdy brick and concrete structure with steel doors and iron bars
on the windows—thieves had taken advantage of a dark and stormy night
for the break-in. The sight of the trashed storeroom was not easy to bear.
Meticulously labeled trays, boxes, and tags were scattered everywhere, and
objects were separated from their proper places in the storage sequence.
What followed was an intensive week of documenting the damage with
extensive photography undertaken, thorough lists compiled, and a cleanup of the debris. Once the photographs and lists
were received in Princeton, the next step was to match the numbers on the empty boxes and bags as well as the lists of all
items and storage trays that were out of place with the master excavation archive housed in Princeton. Joanna Smith headed
up this truly Herculean task. The decision was then made to cancel the planned 2013 summer study season. Instead, a small
number of the excavation team assembled in Polis to conduct an exhaustive review of every object in the storeroom. The
resulting comprehensive list of missing items was submitted to the Department of Antiquities, which has been working with
law enforcement authorities on the hoped-for recovery of objects. Meanwhile a sophisticated alarm system was installed in the
storeroom and additional provisions made to secure the premises. The bright light in these awful circumstances is that over
the course of the thirty year’s work by Princeton at ancient Marion and Arsinoe, the most important objects recovered by the
excavation had already been secured in the Cyprus Museum, the Paphos District Archaeological Museum, and the Museum of
Marion and Arsinoe in Polis. Undeterred by this calamity, the Princeton team will be back in Cyprus in summer 2014
to continue work on the publication of the results of its work.
—CAARI NEWS—7
A Report on CAARI Development
Annemarie Weyl Carr
CAARI has experienced a season of uneven seas, as the rising excitement of the library renovations and expansion
hit the precipitous economic contractions following the financial crisis. The renovations to the existing library space were
complete and in enthusiastic use before the crisis came; but excavation for the library expansion has been postponed till
early 2014, and the financial forecast in Cyprus remains uncertain at best.
With its mounting responsibilities to an expanded physical plant, CAARI needs financial stability. We have been
fortunate in receiving government support, both from the U.S. Department of State through the Council on American
Overseas Research Centers (CAORC), and through grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
and the U.S. Department of Education. But the solid rock on which CAARI’s well-being rests is the steady loyalty of a
dedicated core of contributors. Many of these people have supported CAARI for years, and their fidelity to CAARI is
more deeply appreciated than we know how to say.
Now we would like to expand CAARI’s base of support by creating a broader community of people who belong
to a CAARI membership group, making an annual gift to one or more of its funds: the general fund, the library, the
building and garden, the CAARI fellowships, or its programs. Such a membership group of annual donors would give
CAARI precisely the kind of steady, reliable income that it needs as it endeavors to expand in the uneven economic times
ahead.
Over the fall, recipients of CAARI News will have received an email message asking for your thoughts about a
CAARI membership community of annual donors. I urge you to give it your attention. CAARI badly needs a growing
source of reliable support—not necessarily large support, but steady support. It would be a great help in planning such
an initiative to have your response to our message. If you have not received a message but would like to respond, please
do send me an e-mail: acarr@smu.edu. I will be most grateful for all the information—and of course all the enthusiasm—I
can gather.
At the same time, I am working on creating a group of “CAARI Alumni/ae,” so people who have stayed at
CAARI can stay in touch with the place, its programs, its people, the friends who were made there, and the news about
Cypriot archaeology that flows through it. If you are a CAARI alum, and would like to be part of such a group, do let
me know: acarr@smu.edu. Our records are incomplete and out of date. I’d be MOST grateful to have current contact
information.
Annemarie Weyl Carr is Vice President of CAARI and Chair of the Development Committee.
Two New CAARI Brochures
The CAARI Development
Committee has created two new
handy and colorful brochures (here
unfortunately only shown in blackand-white) as a means of promoting
CAARI as a venue for scholarly
research as well as stating the case for
support of its activities.
If you would like to receive
copies of these brochures as printed
versions and/or as electronic PDFs,
either for your own information or
to pass on to colleagues, students
or potential donors, please contact
Development Committee Chair
Annemarie Weyl Carr by email at
<acarr@smu.edu>.
8—CAARI NEWS—
Contributions to CAARI
CAARI is grateful to its many contributors. Cash donations make up a third of its budget, enabling CAARI to
support research in Cyprus and to spread the knowledge of Cypriot archaeology and history to a wider audience. Make
a secure on-line donation at www.caari.org or send a check to CAARI’s office at Boston University.
Equally important are donations to our library in Nicosia, for which please contact CAARI Librarian Katerina
Mavromichalou <librarian@caari.org.cy>.
CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED APRIL 1 – OCTOBER 31, 2013
$5,000 to $9,999
William Andreas
$1,000 to $4,999
Catherine Deans-Barrett
Raymond Ewing
Galen Stone
$500 to $999
Erin Walcek Averett
Annemarie Weyl Carr
Anne-Marie Knoblauch
Charles (Pete) Perry
Nicolas Stanley Price
Patricia Plum Wylde
$100 to $499
Tom Davis - The Tandy Institute
of Archaeology, Southwestern
Baptist Theological Seminary
C. Edward and Marita Dillery
Janet Horowitz
Thomas and Elaine Kyrus
Gloria London
Barbara McNulty
Jean Peyrat
Virginia Popper
Col. A. Park Shaw, Jr.
Denny and Margo Stavros
Andrew Vaughn
F. Bryan Wilkins
Up to $99
John Cherry
Willard DePree
Hans Pohlsander
Danielle Parks Memorial Fund
Catherine Deans-Barrett
Richard Parker
Mary Constance Parks
O’Donovan Fellowship Fund
Catherine Deans-Barrett
Swiny Fellowship Fund
Catherine Deans-Barrett
Gifts in Memory of Lillian Craig
Craig Kuehl and Jane E. Lucas
Stewart Conference and Publication
Maria Kyriacou
Robert S. Merrillees
U.S. Embassy, Nicosia
In-Kind and Book Contributions
Semitic Museum, Harvard University
Annemarie Weyl Carr
Sam Crooks
Mohamad Farshouk
Takashi Fujii
Gianpaolo Graziadio
Mathew Harpster
Robert Holland
A. Bernard Knapp
John Lund
Anna Osterholtz
Ewdoksia Papuci-Wladyka
Tatiana Pedrazzi
Anna Pouradier Duteil-Loizidou
Michael K. Toumazou
Andrew T. Wilburn
Lectures at CAARI, Fall 2013
“What’s Brewing at Tell al-‘Umayri, Jordan?: Leftovers from a Feast in the 13th
Century B.C.”
Dr. Gloria London, Madaba Plains Project, Jordan
Thursday October 24th, 7:00 p.m.
“Temporary Dwelling: Decreasing Permanence of Occupation at PPNA Ayia Varvara
Asprokremnos and Neolithic Migration Practice”
Dr. Carole McCartney, University of Cyprus
Thursday December 12th, 7:00 p.m.
The lectures are held in the CAARI Library, followed by receptions for the speakers.
—CAARI NEWS—9
Ancient Landscape Change and Iron Age Place-Making
Katie Kearns
The early first millennium B.C. on Cyprus, otherwise known as the Early Iron Age, represents an enigmatic and
often underrepresented period in the island’s history. Following the political and economic collapse and abandonment
of several Late Bronze Age centers, such as Kalavasos Ayios Dhimitrios and Alassa Paliotaverna, a critical era of upheaval
marks the 11th to 8th centuries B.C., in which social groups likely became unsettled as new migrant populations
appeared, and only a pair of Late Bronze Age centers, namely Palaepaphos (Kouklia) and Kition, remained politically and
socially important. By the 8th century B.C., new polities were developing at sites such as Amathus, and shifts in burial
practice, settlements, and trade connections suggest the beginnings of novel first millennium B.C. political landscapes. My
doctoral research investigates this period of dislocation and new beginnings through a study of fluctuating landscapes
and place-making practices on Cyprus.
I focus on environments and landscapes as a way to explore the multi-scalar and local practices through which
new social boundaries developed, and to frame the period in terms of recursive human-environment relationships.
I began my survey fieldwork in 2012–2013 while in residence at CAARI through a Junior Fulbright grant and in
collaboration with the University of Cyprus. This project also had the generous support of the Geological Survey
Department, the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus, and the Cyprus University of Technology.
Ancient sources such as the royal Neo-Assyrian inscriptions of Sargon and Esarhaddon, and later Greek and
Roman authors such as Strabo and Pliny mention the names of several “city-kingdoms,” or political centers, beginning
in the late 8th century B.C. These textual references, coupled with the excavation of major sites such as Amathus, Idalion,
Palaepaphos, and Kition, provide tantalizing evidence for the institutions of the basileus in this period; but often neglected
are the spaces in between such centers that were equally critical to the formation of authority. Many regional survey
projects executed on the island since the important work of Hector Catling and the Cyprus Survey have recovered Iron
Age evidence from outside these city centers, but much of this evidence remains understudied. These assemblages point
to the landscapes and settlements beyond the city walls as active elements in the development of royal institutions, and
indicate that local strategies of landscape maintenance were vital to the foundation of enduring first millennium B.C.
communities.
In order to explore the impact of these landscapes on the formation of Iron Age polities, I concentrated my
research on the case study of the Vasilikos and Maroni Valleys of south-central Cyprus, a region which lacks an Iron Age
“city-kingdom” and which has existed in scholarship as a hinterland of the nearby polity of Amathus. In two earlier
survey projects (the Vasilikos Valley Project directed by Ian Todd, and the Maroni Valley Archaeological Survey Project
directed by Sturt Manning and David Conwell), evidence for the growth of regional settlements in the Iron Age remains
unpublished and therefore provides an avenue for examining emergent landscapes beyond urban complexes.
(continued on p. 11)
10—CAARI NEWS—
Katie Kearns mapping the first
millennium B.C. site of Kalavasos
Khorapheri/Vounaritashi with
differential GPS.
Using comparative survey data—particularly from projects with such diverse methods, aims, and published
results as the VVP and MVASP—can be a difficult endeavor; and I complemented these earlier projects with small-scale
survey at several targeted sites in order to restore archaeological context to this region’s first millennium B.C. landscapes.
The Vasilikos and Maroni Valleys have a very interesting geological and human history, including the monumental
architecture at sites such as Kalavasos Ayios Dhimitrios and Maroni Vournes, as well as important copper resources and
access to coastal trade. Through my combined survey data, which also incorporate geomorphological studies, remote
sensing data from satellite imagery and aerial photography, and new digital mapping with the use of a differential GPS,
I examine the local settlement and land use histories that developed alongside the broader political and social changes of
this period.
These data indicate that by the 8th century B.C., this region grew to become a vibrant nexus of places that reengineered the landscape to manage agricultural and copper resources as well as to link communities through sites of
social memory, ritual, industry, and trade. With these data I can provide a more comprehensive picture of the formation
of communities in a non-urban context and of the place-making endeavors of local groups that conditioned the broader
social and political changes on the island.
In order to investigate the climatic and environmental shifts in regional landscapes of this period, I plan to
perform stable carbon isotope analysis on roughly 200 samples of archaeological charcoal collected from several sites
on the island in a diachronic study on changing water availability. Recent research has shown that in semiarid regions
such as Cyprus, the ratio of carbon isotopes in macrobotanical remains such as charcoal reveals general alterations in
ancient precipitation. According to recent paleoclimatic studies performed around the Mediterranean, a shift to cooler,
wetter environments around the middle of the 8th century B.C. suggests that growing seasons became longer as rainfall
became more reliable; but comparable data for Cyprus is lacking. My study uses samples of oak, pine, olive, and terebinth
charcoal from the Late Bronze Age to the middle of the first millennium A.D. from sites including Idalion, Amathus,
Kalavasos Ayios Dhimitrios and the Late Roman site of Zygi Petrini to provide a critical paleoenvironmental dataset. This
project is currently underway in labs at Cornell University.
By combining these paleoenvironmental data with archaeological and geomorphological evidence, this
interdisciplinary project can significantly advance our understanding of social and political responses to environmental
shifts and the local practices, enmeshed in landscapes, which contributed to the emergence of polities in the first
millennium B.C.
Katie Kearns is a graduate student at Cornell University.
Finding Epiphanius
(contined from p. 5)
I had the honor of presenting my work in a lecture, “An ‘Archaeology’ of Epiphanius of Cyprus,” in May at the
CAARI Library, and I received very encouraging feedback and constructive criticism. I also gave lectures on my research
at the Open University of Cyprus and in Spain at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. As a result of my lecture at
CAARI, Andrew and I were privileged to meet and speak with The Most Reverend Vasilios, Metropolitan of KonstantiaAmmochostos.
Furthermore, through the kind permission of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus, The Most Reverend
Neophytos, Metropolitan of Morphou, and His Beatitude the Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos II, I completed the
other element of my research project, which was to photograph several icons of Epiphanios preserved in various churches
and monasteries found in the Troodos mountain range. I plan to include some of these images in my book, and I hope that
they will serve as the basis of a future research project on the iconography of one of the island’s most illustrious bishops.
All of my research and writing was made possible by the generosity and support of CAARI and the Cyprus
Fulbright Commission. Perhaps it is a bit of a cliché to say this, but our time living and working abroad in Cyprus was
truly life changing The island and its people will always have a place in my heart and in my thoughts. I look forward to
the day when I can return, but until then, sas ef̱charistoúme!
Young Kim is Associate Professor of History and Classics at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
—CAARI NEWS—11
CAARI Needs Your Support!
•CAARI, one the American Schools of Oriental Research, is a
non-profit, educational organization founded in 1978. CAARI has
a modest endowment, but must raise most of its operating cost
through voluntary contributions.
•Contributions to CAARI may be eligible for National Endowment for the Humanities matching funds.
•Contributions to CAARI are fully tax-deductible.
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or mail your donation with the attached form to:
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Annemarie Weyl Carr
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Brigitta Wohl
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Clay Constantinou Assistant Treasurer
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