Welcome to Ancient Cyprus

The island of Cyprus is host to an incredible archeological history, spanning over ten thousand years and a myriad of major civilizations. This website is dedicated to documenting its archeology and history.

The Alexis Drakopoulos Collection of Cypriot Antiquities

The collection

The Drakopoulos Collection

133 Cypriot antiquities, from Neolithic potsherds to a Hellenistic oil bottle. Walk through them century by century, turn 14 scanned pieces in three dimensions, and read the ownership history of each object as far back as it can be traced.

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Recent Articles

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Interactive map

Explore Cyprus, Period by Period

Ten thousand years of settlement on one illustrated island. Step through seventeen periods from the first foragers to the Archaic city-kingdoms, zoom from the whole island down to a single valley, and open any site we have written up straight from its pin.

Late Aceramic Neolithic · 7,000 to 5,200 BCE

The Khirokitia culture. Dense villages of stone round houses, the dead buried beneath house floors, and an island that has cut most of its ties with the mainland.

5 sites on the map

Play

Learn by playing

Five free games built on real objects and real digs: make a pot, open a tomb, trace a vase, make cloth through five eras and carve a picrolite pendant. Five to fifteen minutes each.

All games

The registers

Who dug, sold, kept and wrote about them

Every Cypriot antiquity passed through many hands. Three linked registers follow them: the people, the institutions they worked for, and what was written about it all. Each entry links to the others.

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History

Explore the History of Cyprus

Find out more about Cyprus from the first settlers to the late Archaic periods. Note we do not cover the later classical periods.

The history of Cyprus
*Desmond Morris in The Art of Ancient Cyprus

Article

Cypro-Archaic Bird Motifs

The pottery of ancient Cyprus, especially throughout the Archaic period, is known for various repeating patterns and motifs, including intricate free-field birds. Let us explore commonly found bird motifs and the pottery on which they live.

3D models

3D Models of Cypriot Pottery

Through our cutting-edge Photogrammetry program we have published our first set of compressed 3D models featuring an impressive resolution of up to 20 pixels per mm. Our models have been published with 8k textures downsampled from 16k.

You can also find out more about our Photogrammetry Program and future plans. We will be publishing articles detailing our photogrammetry approach and the use of 3D models in archeology.

Large Bichrome Cypro-Geometric Jug

About

Our Mission

Our mission is to democratize access to the fascinating history and cultural heritage of Ancient Cyprus by collecting, preserving, and sharing all known knowledge in a way that is engaging, understandable, and free for everyone.

We are committed to breaking down barriers to learning by translating complex research and literature into accessible, easy-to-understand content, providing the tools and resources necessary for people of all backgrounds to explore and appreciate the rich history of Cyprus. Through our dedication to writing, collecting, and preserving the history of Cyprus, we aim to inspire curiosity, foster a deeper understanding, and ensure that the invaluable knowledge of this ancient civilization is accessible to generations to come.

Projects

Find out More About Our Projects

We have several ongoing and planned Projects:

  • The Compendium of Cypriot Pottery
  • End to End Course on Cypriot Archeology
  • Largest Online Catalogue of Cypriot artefacts
  • Research Unveiled: Simplifying & Documenting Research for All
  • What really happened in the 1800s: Artifacts Lost to History
  • An Interactive Historical Map of Ancient Cyprus
  • A Comprehensive list of Cypriot Collections around the World
  • A Complete Catalogue of Resources on Ancient Cyprus