The Athienou Archaeological Project, sponsored by Davidson College, completed its third season of investigations at the site of Athienou-Malloura in south-central Cyprus. Expansion of EU 5 revealed additional portions of the Late Roman/Early Byzantine building discovered in 1991. Notable is the discovery of a small statuette of the Phoenician god Baal Hammon found in association with a thymiaterion. Local and imported pottery confirms that the settlement was active as late as the seventh century A.C. when it may have fallen victim to the first Arab raid on the island.

Further excavation of the large structure in EU 2 succeeded in reaching its northern, southern, and eastern outer walls and confirmed our hypothesis that the channels traversing the structure were lined with upright gypsum slabs and topped with wooden planks for the circulation of liquids; no new clues were forthcoming as to the exact purpose of this 15-16th century industrial installation.

Excavation at the rural Cypro-Archaic-Roman sanctuary (EU 10) exposed two sections of the temenos wall meeting at right angles. The walls, which incorporate statuary and architectural material, are tentatively dated to the Hellenistic period and enclose a hard-packed layer upon which additional statuary was found. Aside from generic votaries, the array of deities represented includes Herakles-Melqart and Pan.

In the cemetery at the site's northern periphery a rock-cut chamber tomb (T. 27) was partially cleared for drawing. Its stepped dromos leads to a square forecourt with two loculi on two sides and the burial chamber to the west. Though looted, the tomb so far has yielded over 5,000 sherds, stone vessels, lamps, coins, a gold necklace with carnelian beads, and a gold ring with onyx bezel bearing a representation of Apollo and a satyr (Marsyas ?) - the last pieces tentatively dating to the Augustan period.

The field survey team covered 7.75 km2 of terrain and identified six additional sites. This year's results confirmed the pattern of nucleated settlement noted last year. Sites 9 and 13 are the only prehistoric components, both being lithic- acqusition and primary processing stations of Aceramic Neolithic affiliation.