2007

During October 2007, a geophysical survey employing resistivity, magnetic and GPR techniques was conducted at Palaepaphos in co-operation with the Institute for Mediterranean Studies of the Foundation of Research and Technology, Hellas. This project was directed by Dr Apostolos Sarris, Director of the Institute's Laboratory for Geophysical-Satellite Remote Sensing and Archaeo-environment in collaboration with Professor Maria Iacovou. The survey team from the IMS-FORTH (E. Kokkinou, P. Soupios, E. Papadopoulos, V. Trigkas, O. Sepsa, D. Gionis) and the Archaeological Research Unit (A. Agapiou and A. Satraki) scanned 56,202 sq. m. All maps and the corresponding interpretation of the geophysical features were registered to a GIS application after an intensive DGPS survey, which consists of aerial and satellite imagery and digital products of the land-use and its geology.

Table outlining the methods, instruments and other information applied in the 2007 season of Geophysical surveys at Palaepaphos

Method	Instrument	Depth of Inspection	Photo
Magnetic	Geoscan Research Fluxgate Gradiometer FM256	1-2.5m
Magnetic	Bartington Fluxgate Gradiometer GRAD 601	1-2.5m
Electric	Geoscan Research Resistivity Meter RM15	0.5-1m
Georadar	Noggin Plus-Smart Cart με τις κεραίες συχνότητας των 250 MHz	2-3m

The 2007 excavations at Marcello

Following the first, exploratory 2006 fieldwork season at Marcello, the team resumed the excavations of the large fortification wall at Marcello in 2007. The fieldwork lasted for four weeks between the 27th May to the 9th June.

The team consisted of 16 students from the University of Cyprus. The 2007 excavation season revealed the continuation of the Marcello wall towards the northwest, extending for at least 40m. The wall was fairly well preserved. It is approximately 3m in width with a stone filling set in white limestone. The excavations exposed a narrow vertical foundation wall. The entire operation is set on a levelling layer of red mudbrick. Almost halfway through the 40m. extent, at a distance of about 55m. from the dog-led gate of Marcello, the east side of a new gate was revealed. It was constructed using large ashlar blocks, of about 1m. in length each. The blocks preserve drafted margins.

Following the end of the 2007 expedition at Marcello it became obvious that the 3.4m-wide wall of Marcello formed part of a defensive system that protected not the entire city, but the citadel ontop of the Marcello acropolis. Its purpose was to provide additional protection to the natural plateau, which is well defined on all sides by fairly sharp scarps.

Based on the re-interpretation of the Marcello wall as a defensive system protecting the Marcello administrative acropolis, and not the entire city, it it is highly unlikely that in 1950 Iliffe and Mitford were excavating in the moat of Palaipaphos city wall, since such a wall does not seem to have existed. It is more than likely that the British Mission were excavating within the walls of a Cypro-Archaic citadel. The material retrieved from the huge horse-shoe bothros does not originate from an unidentified rural sanctuary, which was lying somewhere beyond the city walls of Paphos, as it was originally suggested by the excavators. Rather, this unparalleled corpus of inscriptions, sculptures and weaponry constitutes a collection of elite insignia that could only have come from sanctuaries within the Cypro-Archaic palace of Palaepaphos itself.

Team 2007
	Maria Iacovou Anna Satraki Stella Diakou Evilena Anastasiou Polina Chrsitofi Ourania Michael Charalambos Paraskeva Maria Michael Maria Papantoniou Chrysostomos Pashardis Efthymia Priki Chrysovalantis Kyriakou Chrysanthi Kyriakou Eftichia Papadopoulou Petros Karydis Kristof Neven Panagiotis Andreou	Director, Professor in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, University of Cyprus Assistant Director, PhD Candidate, University of Cyprus Master Student, Bryn Mawr College Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Student, University of Cyprus Undergraduate Studnet, Vrije Universiteit Brussels University of Tubingen

Archaeological Investigations at Palaepaphos 2007