The Ancient Capital of Cyprus: Two Decades of Australian Archaeological Excavation in Paphos

Name: The Ancient Capital of Cyprus: Two Decades of Australian Archaeological Excavation in Paphos — National Archaeology Week
Start: 2019-05-21T20:00:00+1000
End: 2019-05-21T21:00:00+1000
Location: Aegean Room, Hellenic Club of Canberra

Tuesday, May 21, 2019
8:00 PM 9:00 PM 20:00 21:00

Aegean Room, Hellenic Club of Canberra Matilda Street Woden ACT 2606 Australia (map)

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The ANU (Canberra) Friends of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens invite you to an illustrated lecture by Dr Craig Barker.

The World Heritage listed site of Nea Paphos served as the capital of Cyprus for several centuries in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The University of Sydney’s Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project has been excavating at the site of the ancient theatre and surrounding theatre quarter since 1995. The team works under the auspices of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus with the support of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens. Over this time, the team have revealed the remnants of the oldest theatre in Cyprus, a venue used for performance for more than six and a half centuries, as well as key urban infrastructure surrounding the theatre; a nymphaeum (fountainhouse), a colonnaded Roman paved road and evidence of other key Roman and later medieval buildings.

This talk will explore the importance of Paphos in the history of Cyprus, the role of the theatre in the development of Hellenistic and Roman Paphos and new evidence shining a light on the urban layout of the Roman town. The talk will also examine how the team has used modern technology, such as 3D Virtual Reality reconstructions, to gain a new visual understanding of the site, in preparation for the project’s 2019 field season.

About the speaker: Dr Craig Barker is director of the University of Sydney’s Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project and the Manager of Education and Public Programs at Sydney University Museums, including the Nicholson collection. He has considerable fieldwork experience in Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and Australia and has published widely on Cypriot archaeology, ancient theatre and the Hellenistic wine trade. He appears monthly on ABC Radio on the ‘Can you Dig it?’ segment of Sunday nights with Rhianna Patrick discussing various aspects of archaeological research.

Time and date: 8pm, Tuesday 21 May 2019

Location: Aegean Room, Hellenic Club of Canberra, Matilda Street, Woden ACT

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Posted in ACT