The Cyprus Institute (CyI), in collaboration with Ghent University (UGhent), the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) and the Mediterranean Archaeological Society, Crete (MAE), is pleased to announce the successful completion of the 2019 archaeological campaign at Pyla-Kokkinokremos, a Late Bronze Age site on the southern coast of Cyprus, about 10 kilometres east of Larnaca.

Since 2014 the Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC of CyI) is involved in the archaeological multi-disciplinary research at Pyla-Kokkinokremos, as a result of a research partnership between the site directors, Professor Joachim Bretschneider (UGhent), Professor Jan Driessen (UCLouvain), Dr. Athanasia Kanta (MAE) and Associate Professor Sorin Hermon (CyI). The main tasks of the STARC team, utilizing the STARLAB, state-of-the-art mobile laboratory infrastructure and APAC Laboratories, and in collaboration with the Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL) team of CyI, led by Dr. Christos Keleshis, were the 3D aerial and terrestrial documentation of architectonic remains and the chemical-physical investigation and 3D shape analysis of special finds.

Research Technical Specialist Marina Faka, who has been working with the excavation team since 2014, is in charge of the geodesic survey of the site and its environment, mapping the geomorphology of the plateau. Moreover, she supervised a geophysical survey test on selected areas of the site utilizing STARC´s Mala Ground Penetrating Radar. Consequently, Dr. Dante Abate, Associate Research Scientist at CyI, 3D documented the architectural remains and belowground features by means of a field laser scanner and aerial photogrammetry. The USRL team, who flew their DJI Inspire drone, equipped with a CANON 5D for an optimal result and piloted by Andreas Leonidou, provided these images. Dr. Svetlana Gasanova, Associate Research Scientist at CyI, leads the chemical-physical non-invasive investigations, using spectroscopy, digital microscopy and multi-spectral imaging. Additional researchers engaged in the project are PhD students Martina Polig and Valentina Vassallo, who, using high-precision structured-light scanning and photogrammetry, are looking at the shape of objects and their manufacture techniques by means of 3D shape analysis. As part of this collaboration, CyI hosted for eight months, through the Erasmus+ program, Ma. Glenn De hooghe, field supervisor of the excavation and involved in the topographical and geophysical survey, aerial photography and 3D-visualisation of the site.