Polis Archaeology
Work In Progress
They are still excavating this site. They may well have stopped for the time being, but you can see where they have been filtering the soil here looking for trinkets.
Google provided a bit more information about the site:
Although the museum is relatively small, it is part of the island’s Route of Aphrodite that connects important sites across Cyprus related to the myth of the Goddess of Love. The collection at Polis has been included because of the figurine statues of a Cypriot fertility goddess, which likely inspired the creation of Aphrodite centuries later.
Most of the items on display were found in the local region where the ancient city-kingdom of Marion-Arsinoe once stood. Marion was an important commercial centre in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, with close ties with Athens. During the Hellenistic-Roman period, Marion was renamed Arsinoe and is now the small town of Polis Chrysochous, commonly known as simply ‘Polis’.
Extra Protection
Needless to say, I left these covers well alone. Indeed, I was at pains to stick to the obvious paths and I touched nothing.
"Leave only footprints, take only photos"
Sizeable Settlement
When you think about it, it is surprising that they find anything of interest, other than the buildings themselves. I have walked around enough abandoned villages in Cyprus to know that anything remotely useful will get recycled for another purpose. So why did they leave a bunch of pots and statues around?
Interesting Stones
I wonder what those were part of?
Perhaps this is why the finds you see in the museum are never fully intact? Are the Archaeologists just rummaging through the dumped rubbish of bygone times, and discovering items that were originally thrown out? If that's the case then future Archaeologists are going to have a field day in Cyprus. Once the sun has set on the current civilisation, the left-over rubbish will prove a formidable challenge to Historians of the next millenium.
Page 2 of 6
Related Blogs:
Paphos Archaeological Park - Summary
We first blogged about the Archaeological Park a couple of years ago. It was a short blog, and focused mainly on the pretty spring flowers. Now we are returning, to give the rest of the park the attention it so richly deserves.St George's Church and Shrine Caves
Near the shops on the Paphos / Geroskipou border, is a little track that runs below a cliff through some farmland. A sign indicates that there is a church down there, so one day I thought I would investigate. Sure enough, there was a little church, but there was so much more besides...Paphos Archaeological Park
When relatives visited us a few weeks ago, we took them to some of the local tourist must-see sites. A definite highpoint was the visit to the Archaeological Park. We were especially lucky because it was spring time and all the wild flowers were in bloom...From Toumpallos to Saranta Kolones
This is the final stage of our detailed tour of Paphos Archaeological Park, and we have saved some of the best attractions to last. So come with us as we finish the journey in style...Good Pages To Visit
FB PagePaphos Life on Facebook
Like us on Facebook and stay notified of new blog posts.