Archaeologists at Drouseia-Skloinikia on the Akamas peninsula have unearthed a treasure trove of stone tools, beads, shells and bones, some dating back 8,000 years, offering a rare glimpse into the island’s prehistoric past.

The 2025 excavation was led by Dr Theodora Moutsiou of the University of Cyprus, in collaboration with Dr Christian Reepmeyer of the German Archaeological Institute, with participation from students from Cyprus, Athens, Cologne and Rome.

Part of the TOPOS project, which explores early coastal prehistory in Cyprus, the dig continues last year’s work, when a geophysical survey mapped unusual subsoil features. Excavation of five sections up to 60 cm deep revealed a rich array of artifacts, including stone tools, beads, shells and bones.

This year’s excavation aimed to extend the 2024 sections to the natural soil, open new areas, examine the site’s stratigraphy and formation processes, and systematically record and collect artifacts to determine the site’s extent, nature, and chronology.

The campaign uncovered hundreds of stone artifacts with typo-technological features dating to the end of the Pleistocene, the last Ice Age, and the Early Holocene, a transitional warming period (12,000-8,000 years ago). Preliminary carbon dating on charcoal samples dates the deposit to no later than 8,000 years ago.

A total of nine new sections were excavated. One reached the natural surface to study site formation, with geomorphological samples collected for analysis, while the other eight, dug about 20 cm deep, investigated a previously identified magnetic anomaly.

Digging these final sections uncovered an in-situ (situated in its original place) working floor with chunks of raw stone, cores, hammerstones, and sharp flakes knocked off them.

“This impressive assemblage provides us with some initial information about at least some of the work carried out at Skloinikia by its inhabitants,” the antiquities department said, adding that beads, flint and other stone tools, bones, and shell objects round out this year’s collection.

As the statement highlights, ongoing research by the University of Cyprus “firmly places the Akamas Peninsula within the broader network of Eastern Mediterranean interactions during the emergence of Neolithic lifeways and helps trace the development of prehistoric coastal communities, patterns of human migration, and the settlement of groups on the island over time”.