Additional Archaeological Investigations on the Akrotiri Peninsula

Abstract

Prior to our investigations, archaeological study of the Akrotiri Peninsula had been limited (see Heywood 1982), with the notable exception of the survey conducted by Brian Pile that located Aetokremnos. Fortunately, RAF-Akrotiri has an active and professional amateur society, the Western Sovereign Bases Archaeological Society, and they are involved in a variety of archaeological investigations, as well as conservation matters. Most of their studies, however, concentrate on the remains of classic antiquity, the most notable of which are those from Curium, immediately west of the peninsula. Before Pile’s survey, some previous archaeological survey had been undertaken. The principal study was that of A. Megaw and Colonel J. Last, who was the military advisor within the Western Sovereign Base Area (WSBA). They conducted a survey in 1954; unfortunately, I was unable to locate a copy of this report. E Haggerty (1991), one of the active amateur archaeologists on the base during our investigations, has summarized this survey. Megaw and Last listed 18 sites but gave only limited information on the nature of these. Their survey was conducted prior to the airfields being built, and, according to Haggerty, should have included most of the larger (i.e., visible) sites. These sites included a variety of “settlements,” “tombs,” “ruins,” and “watch towers”; some of these were formally named, while others were not. Notably, their survey did not locate, nor in all likelihood did they look for, prehistoric occurrences. As a result of the Megaw and Last survey, legislation known as the Antiquities Ordinance of 1975 was enacted. The ordinance divided the major sites located during the survey into three “lists.” The first is “The Republic” (i.e., Republic of Cyprus), which included the stadium, Sanctuary of Apollo, and other lands at Kourion owned by the Republic, as