Archaeological investigations off the coast of Paphos completed

The antiquities department announced the completion of a three-month excavation project on Yeronisos Island off the Paphos coast and Cape Drepanum, located right across the island.

The project, which was carried out in cooperation with the New York University, saw a team of archaeologists carrying out underwater and land surveys of the area, together with a coastal mapping and 3D modelling, as well as a comprehensive study of excavated materials in preparation for publication.

The project particularly focused on the ancient Maniki harbour on Cape Drepaneum, which served as the main port for accessing the ancient settlement at Ayios Georgios tis Pegeias and Yeronisos Island itself from the Hellenistic through to the Byzantine period.

According to the antiquities department, the excavation further proved that the ancient port “provided the most convenient and safe location for anchoring, loading, and unloading cargoes, as witnessed by the rock cut channels and bollards, pottery and anchors at the area.”

“While intense use is attested for the harbour during late Roman and early Byzantine times, Hellenistic pottery recovered in the terrestrial survey and stone anchors possibly dating as early as the 2nd millennium B.C. suggest that it was used as a significant anchorage from much earlier on.”