Dr. Lucy Blue and Dr. Maria Michael

During May 2023, two workshops and a fieldwork were conducted in the Ayia Napa region of Cyprus. These were part of the broader Cyprus Regional Development Project (CRDP) funded by the Honor Frost Foundation (HFF). The aim of this project is to acquire a greater understanding of the maritime cultural resource of the island of Cyprus and develop an integrated approach to documenting archaeology in selected coastal regions, and more broadly share expertise and build capacity in the HFF eastern Mediterranean region. The project is a partnership with colleagues from the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), and MarEA project (Universities of Ulster and Southampton, UK) and works closely with other experts in Cyprus, as well as partners from the HFF region (Egypt and Lebanon).

Between May 8th and 11th 2023, a workshop about Photogrammetry was delivered by a recently appointed member of the Southampton SMMI, Dr. Felix Pedrotti, and Mohammed Salama (German University of Technology in Oman), with support from the Cyprus University of Technology (Dr. Dimitrios Skarlatos). The main aim of this workshop was to offer basic principles of photogrammetry both in terrestrial and underwater environments. In other words, it was designed to develop a basic theoretical grounding of photogrammetry and to gain a professional skillset in the collection, processing, visualisation, and dissemination of both terrestrial and underwater photogrammetric datasets. In this workshop, archaeologists, biologists, researchers in robotics, and engineers from Cyprus, Egypt and Lebanon took part.

After the Photogrammetry workshop, an integrated coastal survey workshop and fieldwork followed and lasted from 12th to 18th of May 2023. This workshop and fieldwork prepared all team members for coastal mapping and survey. They provided an understanding of comprehensive survey methods for documentation of the Maritime Cultural Heritage, in order to observe coastal change and threat and systematic documentation of coastal heritage. The workshop and fieldwork are primarily delivered by MarEA project (Dr. Colin Breen and Dr. Kierran Westley), with elements of specific training provided by local partners e.g. coastal geology (Dr. Miltiadis Polydorou). In this workshop, archaeologists, a biologist, and a geologist from Cyprus, Egypt and Lebanon took part.

During the fieldwork, integrated coastal pedestrian surveys were undertaken in two locations in the Ayia Napa region of Cyprus to more fully understand the nature of the archaeological remains. Specifically, the areas selected, were Cape Greco within state land and the site Ammos tou Kambouri on the Ayia Napa coast. Both areas are located on the south-eastern and southern coasts of Cyprus respectively. This work was conducted with the permission of the Department of Antiquities and the Department of Forests (Environmental Information and Education Centre at Cape Greco), Cyprus. The team consisted of professional maritime and terrestrial archaeologists and geologists.

During the surveys, participants used the application of KoboCollect, which allowed them to create online forms, through which they can collect spatial data e.g. GPS location, geotagged photographs, and notes associated with each location entry. This application was loaded on phones and/or tablets and collected data was saved on an online server. Emphasis was placed on recording ceramic sherds dating from different chronological periods (diagnostic and non-diagnostic) to demonstrate their spatial and temporal distribution within the areas. The results of these surveys not only confirm the effectiveness of the methodological approach, but also add new data to the study of these areas and may demonstrate settlement patterns that future research in the region will be called upon to investigate.

One of the course participiants, Edmond Tannous from the HFF Lebanon team, created a video to showcase this training.