Pafos Live 8 January 2026
More than 700 kilos of amphora shells of the Late Roman period, dozens of inscriptions in red ink and important evidence of major port works of the time of Justinian are brought to light by this year's excavations in the ancient port of Pegeia. The Department of Antiquities has announced the completion of the 2025 excavation program of New York University (NYU) at St. George, a six-week interdisciplinary project.
The expedition included an overview, excavation and study at St. George of Pegeia, under the direction of Joan Breton Connelly, Professor of Classics. An excavation was carried out in the ancient port at the site of Maniki, while the surface survey continued in the ancient cemetery at the site of Pegeia-Meletis.
The interdisciplinary research and publication project involved an international team of scientists and students from NYU, the University of Cyprus and the Cyprus Institute. Professor Stella Demesticha (University of Cyprus) directed the identification and recording of over 700 kg of amphora shells of the Late Roman period, coming from the expedition's excavations.
As mentioned, the dominant type is the Late Roman amphorae 1 of local (Paphos) and Cilician construction, as well as imports from Palestine and Gaza (6th century AD). The amphorae from the Channel preserve 68 inscriptions in red ink (dipinti), which offer significant possibilities for future research.
The number of amphora shells dumped in Maniki comes from an archaeological layer that was created to level the steep rock, so that port works could be constructed. These facilitated the delivery of large quantities of marble blocks from Prokonnissos, as well as column vertebrae and capitals for the basilicas built at Cape Drepanon under Emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD.
According to the Department of Antiquities, a second important part of the work from this period concerned the carved tomb of the Hellenistic and Roman periods discovered by the New York University (NYU) team in 2018. Professor Jolanta Mlynaczyk of the University of Warsaw continued the study of pottery from the tomb, which dates from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD.
Dr. Rebecca Gerdes from Cornell University's Institute of Archaeology and Materials Sciences took samples from Roman cookware of the tomb for analysis of organic remains. Its results may deepen our understanding of local eating habits, as well as burial and symposium rituals.
At the same time, Dr. Mariusz Burdajewicz of the University of Warsaw continued the documentation of glass vessels, which date from the middle of the 1st century BC to the end of the 2nd/early 3rd century AD. Most belong to the Roman Imperial period and include cast glass ribbed and linear decorated bowls, as well as blown glass bowls, cups, glasses, plates, bottles, juglets and perfume vessels (unguentaria).
Although the tomb was looted from the Roman period until the 20th century, some precious metals were discovered in their original location. These are now being studied by Dr Marianna Dági, Head of Collections and Chief Curator of Antiquities at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. She is collaborating with Dr Thilo Rehren and Dr Meghna Desai from the Research Centre for Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture (STARC) of the Cyprus Institute, who have undertaken the hhXRF analysis of these metals and are soon to start SEM analysis.
It is also reported that Dr. Efi Nikita of the Cyprus Institute continued her important work on the human skeletal remains of the tomb. The animal bones, which are being studied by Dr. Paul Croft, Special Scientist of the Archaeology Research Unit of the University of Cyprus, include numerous remains of sheep, goats, pigs, hares, fish and chickens, which were deliberately placed during the burial phase of the tomb.
"Many of them are burned, shrunk and deformed, suggesting the deliberate cremation of what may have been offerings to the dead or meals eaten by the living," it added.
Professor Thomas Tartaron of the University of Pennsylvania guided students on an archaeological surface survey of Meleti's Necropolis, as he had done in 2018 when the tomb was discovered. He is preparing his comparative research on these two reviews for publication, along with his research in the fields around the Port of Maniki that he conducted in 2018 and 2019. Professor Tartaron also continued the Pegeia Fishermen's Oral History Program, interviewing locals who fished in the Maniki Harbour from an early age.
The 2025 season also included an informal survey of Cape Drepanon and the Necropolis of the Study Forest, following "in the footsteps" of David George Hogarth's journey, as recorded in his work Devia Cypria in 1889. George Marshall Peters from the Explorers Club and Professor Lorenzo Calvelli from the University of Venice joined Professor Connelly in tracing Hogarth's path, with a careful reading of his discoveries and observations.
