The
Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Communications and Works, announces the
completion of the third season (2013) of excavations of the Department of Classical Archaeology of the Institute of Archaeology,
Jagiellonian University (JU), Kraków, Poland, within the framework of the
Paphos Agora Project, which aims at the exploration of the Agora of the ancient
city of Nea Paphos, the capital of Cyprus in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
The exploration
work of the 2013 season was conducted between the 12th of August and
the 20th of September. The team, led by Professor Ewdoksia
Papuci-Władyka comprised nearly 40 members, including the staff of the
Institute, doctoral students, graduate and undergraduate students and
volunteers. The aim of the campaign was not only to excavate but also to carry
out conservation of metal artefacts discovered during the previous seasons and
kept in the Paphos District Museum. Of particular importance was the cleaning
of coins, which – together with pottery – are key elements for the chronology
of excavated architecture and other objects.
Excavations were
conducted in Trench II, which continues ever since the first season. This
trench is located in the central part of the eastern portico of the Agora, by
the entrance to the square from the east. This year it was extended to the
south, where new rooms were uncovered; the total number of rooms uncovered
reached 15. A majority of them had been most likely shops (tabernae) situated close to the eastern entrance of the Roman
Agora. In the northern part of Trench II exploration was completed in rooms 6
and 7, after having reached bedrock. Architectural structures (walls, floors,
etc.) were uncovered, dating most probably to the Hellenistic and Early Roman
periods.
Work was also
conducted in the southern part within rooms 3 and 5, where work began last
year, and in the newly uncovered rooms 13-15. Architectural remains belonging
to several building phases were found: Phase I – Hellenistic period; Phase II –
rebuilding in the time of Augustus, probably after the large earthquake in 15
BC, when the first phase of the Roman Agora portico was constructed; Phase III
– rebuilding after the earthquake in the 70s AD; Phase IV – rebuilding after
the earthquake in the time of Hadrian, when the last phase of the Agora portico
was constructed, representing what can be seen today on entering the Agora. The
chronology given above is only provisional, and needs to be corroborated by
pottery, coins and further study of the material found.
The exploration
results in Room 13 were particularly interesting. Here, the earliest structure
uncovered so far is a cistern with a rectangular entrance. It appears that the
cistern is earlier than the earliest phase of the eastern portico of the Agora,
and should probably date to the Hellenistic period, as indicated by pottery and
coins. When the foundations of the eastern portico of the Agora had been built,
most likely in the time of Augustus, the western wall of the cistern was
disassembled; later it was reconstructed in a different technique and it formed
part of the portico foundations.
In the 2013
season a new trench (Trench III) not far from the southern portico of the
Agora, to its north, so as to check whether there had been any structures
earlier than the Roman Agora at this point. Ten walls, fragments of two floors
and other architectural structures were uncovered. The analysis of the pottery
found in the lowest layers by the walls indicates that some of these structures
were in use in the Hellenistic period, and were covered by a thick layer of
fill of Roman date. At present it is not possible to assess whether the
structures in question had been connected with the Hellenistic Agora. Further
investigation of Trench III in the following season will possibly provide more
information on the issue.
In this year’s
fieldwork the team was joined by two geodesists who conducted photogrammetry
and helped in the creation of a digital elevation model of the site (DEM).
After the termination of the fieldwork, photos were taken from above by the
so-called quadrocopter, equipped with a digital camera. The preliminary results
of this procedure are very promising.
Data gathered
during the three years of exploration will be analysed in Krakow and presented
in a first preliminary report, which will be sent for publication in the Report
of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus.
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