Announcement on the excavation of the Warsaw University and Jagiellonian University of Kracow in Nea Pafos – Excavation Season 2024

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02/05/25 18:09 | Press release | Culture

02052025- Yf. Politismou 14 Fig. 3_MA-P 2024_Agora well S,248

The Department of Antiquities of the Deputy Ministry of Culture announces the completion of the 5^th excavation season of the joint expedition of the University of Warsaw and the Jagiellonian University in Kraków operating in Pafos in consortium with the Warsaw University of Technology and the collaboration of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology implementing the project: “MA-P Maloutena and Agora in the layout of Paphos: modelling the cityscape of the Hellenistic and Roman Capital of Cyprus” (MA-P), under the direction of Professor Ewdoksia Papuci-Władyka.

In 2024, study and excavation campaigns were carried out. The spring campaign (April/May) with a small team was devoted to the study of the material excavated in previous years and preparation for the publication. The summer-autumn excavation campaign was the last one of the MA-P project and took place between September 16th and October 20th with the participation of 17 staff and 13 students, as well as some volunteers. Excavations were conducted in two areas: the Maloutena area and the Agora.

In the first area, work continued on the Trial Trench MAL TT.X (Fig. 1) located in the western part of the city, west of Fanari Hill whose exploration begun two years earlier. The trench was extended to the north and south. In the northern extension, a wall (Wall 2) running approximately north-south was uncovered, which is preliminarily interpreted as a wall added to the corner of a building exposed in previous seasons (Building I, Wall 1). The chronology of Wall 2 cannot be yet determined. To the east of Wall 2, a part of the excavation covering the outer space adjacent to the building was explored. The remains of a street and a canal were expected to be discovered in this area. During the final days of work, the bottom of the canal was recorded, with its course curving 90 degrees to the east. The exploration of the interior of the Building 1 (Room I) has been partially completed. The initial analysis of movable finds (mainly ceramics) allowed for the preliminary determination of the chronology of that part of the building to be in the Hellenistic period, most likely the 2nd century BCE. This statement is very interesting as, if confirmed in the further research, it means that we deal here with a partially preserved Hellenistic building. Work on trench X must be continued in subsequent excavation seasons.

Works in the Agora area focused on the exploration of two wells. The well S.51 (Fig. 2) located within Trench T.I in the centre of the square was explored back in 2016. It was decided to explore this feature in 2024 campaign primarily to obtain bioarchaeological samples, and to determine their potential in the study of palaeoenvironmental changes occurring in the city. The bottom was reached, the well was 5.78 m deep. Unlike other wells we explored in recent years, this one was extremely modest in terms of finds. Its preliminary chronology was set for the Late Hellenistic or Early Roman Period. The second well S.248 (Fig. 3) is located within trench T.II, in the inner area of the Agora, and was partly explored in 2023.

Conservation work was also carried out by Dr Barbara Zając in the Archaeological Museum in Pafos. Preservation mainly covered a series of coins obtained during 2022-2024 seasons (over 150 objects in total). The Research Programme for Samples from the Wall Decorations of the Villa of Theseus also continued by scholars from Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. Its main purpose is to determine the composition of mortars and pigments.

Fig. 1. MA-P 2024, Maloutena TT.X, phot. E. Papuci-Władyka

Fig. 2. MA-P 2024, Agora well S.51, phot. E.Papuci-Władyka

Fig. 3. MA-P 2024, Agora well S.248, phot. Ł. Miszk

(EK/ΙΑ/AS)

Announcement on the excavation of the Warsaw University and Jagiellonian University of Kracow in Nea Pafos – Excavation Season 2024

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