RAF Akrotiri Station Commander, Group Captain Chris Snaith, visited the site of the Ancient Akrotiri Project at Dreamer’s Bay (Nissarouin) on the southern coast of Akrotiri last week, to get an insight into the progress and complexity of the project.
Since 2015 archaeological teams from the Universities of Leicester and Southampton have conducted several seasons of excavation and survey on Roman/early Byzantine remains at Dreamer's Bay, comprising warehouse complexes, harbour works, and shoreline stone quarries. There is evidence of an ancient port site inside what is now RAF Akrotiri at the southernmost point of Cyprus.
The Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works announced the completion of the land based element of the Ancient Akrotiri Project (AAP) in April, however the marine archaeological part of the project continued this September. The project was led by the University of Leicester under the direction of Professor Simon James. The team consisted of professional excavation staff and undergraduate students from the University of Leicester’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History, in collaboration with colleagues from the Universities of Southampton, Cyprus and Athens.
During his visit to the maritime element of the project the Station Commander spoke to lead marine archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue who explained her theory of a tsunami-like event, several hundred years ago, which destroyed the breakwater and probably wrecked ships at anchor in the harbour.
Group Captain Snaith said:
“I’ve been lucky enough to go diving with the team from the University of Southampton which is looking at the marine archaeology in Dreamer’s Bay. They believe that ships from all over the eastern Mediterranean would use Cyprus as a logistic hub, much as it is today, getting re-provisioned before then sailing on to Syria, Turkey or wherever.”
Group Captain Snaith added:
“We found columns which we think were on the way from Egypt en route to Antioch. It’s fascinating. Because the area has not been over-developed and we can restrict access, many of the artefacts are in pristine condition, which provides a great opportunity for the academics to come and study the area.”
The work has been conducted with the endorsement of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and Sovereign Base Areas Administration, which look after heritage sites inside the British Sovereign Bases on the island and with the permission of the Republic of Cyprus Department of Antiquities. RAF Akrotiri has been responsible for facilitating the project.
