Kition 2000 Overview

ABSTRACT
In 1988 I completed for the Cyprus Department of Antiquities 30 years of excavations at the site of ancient Kition in Cyprus. The site covers a chronological span from the Middle Bronze Age down to the end of antiquity. I was Director of the Department of Antiquities during these twenty years; I retired in 1989. Of these excavations five large volumes of the final report have appeared, the last one consisting of three fascicules. I am planning volume VI, the last one, which will deal with the Phoenician levels (including the temple of Astarte). The material from these excavations is stored in the Larnaca District Museum.
As Director of the Department of Antiquities I had accesss to all the technical facilities of the Department (draughtsmen, photographers, typists, etc.), but since my retirement in 1989 these are no longer available.

I have now decided to publish volume VI, but the difficulties which I encounter are enormous. I need an archaeologist assistant to help me with the cataloguing of the material, a draughtsman, a photographer and an editor. I hope to be able to complete the work within three years (1999-2001). The Cyprus Department of Antiquities will include the publication of volume VI in its own series of publications.

The reason why I was unable to complete all the excavation reports before my retirement are numerous: I had to finish the publication of other excavations, including the major publication of Maa-Palaeokastro and the Palaepaphos Necropolis. In 1992 I was called upon to create the Archaeological Research Unit of the newly-founded University of Cyprus and became its first Director, a post which I held until 1996.
The importance of the excavations at Kition is by now well known. The Phoenician levels have provided architectural remains of unique significance (including the sacred area and workshops) as well as inscriptions, ceramics, bronzes, faiences, jewellery etc., which constitute one of the major assemblages of Phoenician material in the Mediterranean.

Volume VI will consist of four fascicules:
a) one fascicule for the architecture
b) one fascicule for the objects, chronology and general conclusions
c) one fascicule of -plates for the objects
d) one fascicule of plates and sections for the architecture.
There will be several appendices which will be written by specialists.