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Archaeologists excavating the seabed off Cyprus have discovered ancient tools which they believe were used by foragers on Cyprus more than 10,000 years ago, before the island had any permanent settlements. They say the underwater discovery could shed fresh light on the early history of Cyprus and open-water seafaring in the Mediterranean.

Earlier this month, divers located the pre-Neolithic finds, chipped stone tools and ground stone implements, in several areas off the western coast, near Aspros, an archaeological site discovered in 2004, where findings are thought to date back more than 10,000 years. The most significant finds were located in water about 10 meters deep and about 100 meters offshore. “These are the people who are the pioneers; without their knowledge, people who came later maybe would not have had it that good,” said director Albert J. Ammerman, of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

Archaeologists say the new discoveries indicate that ancient Aspros was much larger than the landward section visible today. The Aspros site, discovered in 2004, now extends more than 250 meters (820 feet) along the top of a cliff on the north side of the dry Aspros river bed, the archaeologists said.

“All of what we see on the land is just a tip of the iceberg of what is in the water,” said Ammerman. The archaeologists believe that tools found at the two sites were used by seafaring foragers who frequented the island well over 10,000 years ago, before the first permanent settlers who arrived around 8,200 BC.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns and Ambassador of Cyprus to the United States Andreas Kakouris held a ceremonial exchange of diplomatic notes today signifying the extension of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that protects the rich archaeological and ethnological heritage of Cyprus.

 Ancient Cyprus coins

The MOU, which entered into force in 2002, is extended for an additional five years, effective July 16, 2007. Its continuation reflects the strong commitment of the United States to help safeguard Cypriot heritage and offers the opportunity for ongoing cooperation to reduce further pillage, thereby increasing opportunities for scientific study of intact sites. It also illustrates the strength of U.S.-Cyprus bilateral relations.

The MOU enables the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to continue import restrictions on pre-Classical and Classical archaeological objects and Byzantine period ecclesiastical and ritual ethnological material unless accompanied by an export permit issued by Cyprus. The designated list of categories of material restricted from import into the United States, has been published in the Federal Register by DHS.

Byzantine ritual and ecclesiastical ethnological material such as icons, mosaics and frescos, ranging in date from approximately the 4th century A.D. through approximately the 15th century A.D., illustrate the high degree of artistic achievement in Cyprus and include some of the finest pieces of Byzantine art ever produced. The rich archaeological heritage of Cyprus illustrates the interaction of the island’s inhabitants with neighboring societies, while maintaining a uniquely Cypriot character. Much of the history of the island from the 8th millennium B.C. to approximately 330 A.D. can be understood only from archaeological remains, because historical texts are very rare.

With the extension of this MOU, DHS amended the designated list of restricted categories to include ancient coins of Cypriot types produced from the end of the 6th century B.C. to 235 A.D. Coins, a significant and inseparable part of the archaeological record of the island, are especially valuable to understanding the history of Cyprus.

This extension of the MOU is consistent with the recommendation of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, which is administered by the Bureau for Educational and Cultural Affairs. The MOU, the Designated List, and other information may be found at http://exchanges.state.gov/culprop/cyfactpc.html

Archaeologists excavating the seabed off Cyprus have discovered the tools of ancient mariners, which they believe were used by foragers more than 10,000 years ago, before the island had permanent settlements.

The underwater discovery of what archaeologists said were the oldest materials recovered off the island’s coast could shed fresh light on the early history of Cyprus and Mediterranean seafaring.

Earlier this month, divers located the pre-Neolithic finds, chipped stone tools and ground stone implements, in several areas off the western coast, near Aspros, an archaeological site discovered in 2004. The most significant finds were located in water about 33 feet deep and about 330 feet offshore.

“These are the people who are the pioneers; without their knowledge people who came later maybe would not have had it that good,” said Colgate University’s Albert J. Ammerman, the survey’s director.

Archaeologists say the new discoveries indicate that ancient Aspros was much larger than the landward section visible today. The Aspros site, discovered in 2004, now extends more than 820 feet along the top of a cliff on the north side of the dry Aspros River bed, the archaeologists said.

“All of what we see on the land is just a tip of the iceberg of what is in the water,” said Ammerman, whose underwater survey was carried out by nine divers from Cyprus and the U.S. Aspros, along with a similar site also discovered in 2004 at the tourist resort of Agia Napa in southeastern Cyprus, lies on a coastal formation of aeolianite, old cemented sand dunes.

The archaeologists believe that tools found at the two sites were used by seafaring foragers who frequented the island well over 10,000 years ago, before the first permanent settlers arrived around 8,200 B.C. They are thought to have sailed from present-day Syria and Turkey, at least 46 miles north and east of the island.

The dawn of seafaring in the region has been put at around 9,500 B.C. from evidence found 20 years ago at Aetokremnos, on Cyprus’ southern Akrotiri peninsula. The finds indicate these early wanderers traveled more widely, and more frequently, than was previously believed, outside experts say.

“This just shows there is a lot more activity than was originally thought,” said Tom Davis, an archaeologist and director of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, who not involved in Ammerman’s study. “We’re looking at repeated visits around the island. These would be people stopping deliberately, coming to the island to use resources, setting themselves with a clear understanding of the landscape,” Davis said.

The tools found at Aspros and Ayia Napa are similar to those found at Akrotiri, though precise dating must still be verified through radiocarbon tests, which are in progress. The era in question coincided with a climatic cold snap known as the Younger Dryas, dated roughly 11,600-12,800 years ago, when the sea level was some 200-230 feet lower. Rising seas subsequently submerged much of the ancient coast.

An historic agreement between the Cyprus and United States governments means that ancient Cypriot coins will now be barred from unauthorised importation into the US.

The agreement went into effect on Monday after being officially adopted last week.

The island’s ancient coins will now only be allowed to enter the US if authorised by the Cyprus government. The move has thrilled local authorities, as it provides an effective means of limiting the illegal trafficking of culturally significant ancient coins from the Republic of Cyprus.

The law regarding the ancient coins is part of a renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the US and Cypriot governments, which is set to expire again in five years. The last memorandum had protected the country against the trafficking of other antiquities into the United States, but did not include coins.

“Adding the coins to the memorandum list is a big success for Cyprus,” said Director of the Department of Antiquities Pavlos Flourentzos. “US authorities will be obliged to contact us if anyone tries to take ancient Cypriot coins through US customs without official Cyprus government documents.”

The renewed agreement marks the first time the US State Department has moved to protect the cultural heritage of another country by restricting trade on a broad category of ancient coins.

“Cyprus is the first and only country to have its ancient coins protected through such an MOU,” said Flourentzos. He added that Italy had also been trying to pass a similar agreement with the US, but had not seen any results so far.

The Cyprus government has long been concerned with reported looting of archaeological sites. It is particularly concerned with sites in the Turkish occupied and military controlled territories of the Republic, where many of Cyprus’s ancient coins are found. Discovered coins are often used by scientists to date archaeological findings. Adding them to the list of protected items means that these sites face less risk of being damaged as looters are less likely to turn a profit for their findings.

The coins protected under the agreement date back from the first coins to ever be issued on the island up until the end of the Roman period, said Flourentzos. Also protected are other Cypriot artefacts and art pieces dating from the classical, pre-classical and Byzantine periods.

American collectors are however reportedly worried that the new import restrictions will cause confusion, as ancient coins are not usually required to carry documents of origin. Furthermore, Cyprus coins excavated in neighbouring countries such as Israel, Lebanon, or Syria, which would not require Cypriot documentation, could potentially cause confusion at customs.

Andreas Kakouris, the Republic’s Ambassador to Washington, was said to be pleased with the development, telling The New York Times that: “Coins constitute an inseparable part of our own cultural heritage, and the pillage they are subjected to is the same as other archaeological material.”

We’ve been here much longer than we thought > Archaeologists in Cyprus have discovered what they believe could be the oldest evidence yet that organised groups of ancient mariners were plying the east Mediterranean, possibly as far back as 14,000 years ago.

The find, archaeologists told Reuters yesterday, could also suggest Cyprus, tucked in the northeast corner of the Mediterranean and about 30 miles away from the closest land mass, may have been gradually populated about that time, and up to 2,000 years earlier than previously thought. What is now believed to be Cyprus’ first permanent human settlement is at Shillourokambos, in the island’s south dating from the end of the ninth millennium BC.

“This is a major breakthrough in terms of the study of early Cyprus archaeology and the origins of seafaring in the Mediterranean,” Pavlos Flourentzos, Director of Cyprus’ Department of Antiquities, told Reuters.

The discovery at a coastal site on the island’s northwest has revealed chipped tools submerged in the sea and made with local stone which could be the earliest trace yet of human activity in Cyprus. US and Cypriot archaeologists conducting the research have known since 2004 that Cyprus was used by small groups of voyagers on hunting expeditions for pygmy elephants. But the newly discovered expanse of the Aspros dig in the Akamas peninsula, which stretches into the sea, suggests the site held larger numbers of people, possibly for months.

“It shows that activity is much more organised than some isolated visit,” said Tom Davis, Director of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) in Nicosia.

Flourentzos and Davis said the new find told archaeologists nomads knew the island well enough to find tool material, suggesting they were repeat visitors. Flourentzos co-directed the research project with Albert J Ammerman, an archaeologist at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. Ammerman had previously discovered fragments of tools on a cliff in another vicinity of the island where research will continue next year. He literally stumbled on the find while out with his children; the rocky outcrop is a bungee-jumping cliff overlooking one of Cyprus’s most popular beaches.

“To the average tourist it might be a piece of rock,” Davis said. Ammerman could not be reached for comment on yesterday.

Virtually nothing is known about Mediterranean mariners of the era. There is a widely held belief they never ventured into open seas because of limited navigational abilities. Archaeologists say the first human settlements in Cyprus date from 10,000 BC and are located inland. Logically, the coastal settlements should be older, and in the Aspros dig’s case, where a good deal of it is now in the sea, possibly up to 2,000 years older.

“We are trying to verify through carbon dating on bones in the area that this find is more ancient, possibly another 2,000 years,” said Flourentzos.

“We are looking at repeated activity here, it is more than a handful of people. For the first time in the east Mediterranean we are talking about serious sea-voyaging,” said Davis. “This was not a case of one guy, or a family blown off course. This is a number of persons coming to Cyprus, these were conscious, repeated visits,” Davis said.

A University of Edinburgh/Lemba Archaeological Research Centre team, under the directorship of Professor Edgar Peltenburg, has completed four weeks of excavations at Souskiou-Laona and unveiled ancient burial sites which provided an insight into religious and social rites of the period.

The site of Souskiou, near Palaepaphos, is famous for the earliest cemeteries in Cyprus, belonging to c. 3000 B.C., long before they became standard from the Bronze Age to the present.

An official press release said the excavations which were carried out by the team focused on the habitations of those people who were eventually buried in the cemeteries.

Their settlement is located on a steep hillside and this season the excavators were able to show how Chalcolithic people carved series of terraces on which to place their houses. Contrary to common belief, the remains were well preserved on the protected inner side of these terraces and much evidence was gained on the lifestyle of the community.

The Souskiou settlers specialised in the production of the cruciform figurines of the type that will soon grace the new euro to be introduced in Cyprus.

”To our surprise, production was not confined to a particular workshop. The waste material from the manufacture of these cruciforms was distributed throughout the settlement in such a way as to indicate that the figures were fashioned by several groups,” the press release said. It added that this new data provides unrivalled evidence for the way in which these iconic images were created, as well as for the organisation of society and craft production in ancient Cyprus.

Up to recently, it had been assumed that the dead were all buried in the unique cemeteries of Souskiou, but this season child burials were recovered from an elegantly built structure at the top of the site. Mortuary studies have suggested that children were under-represented in the cemeteries, so here we have evidence of a division in burial customs, one in which age and status played a significant role in decisions about who was allowed to be placed in these earliest cemeteries.