Kourion, Cyprus Expedition records

After digging at Lapithos in 1930-1931, the Penn Museum, under B. H. Hill, resumed excavations in Cyprus in the spring of 1934 at Curium (Kourion), near Episkopi. Hill was assisted by George H. McFadden, a University of Pennsylvania Museum research associate and generous backer of the Cypriot program. The excavations, conducted from 1934-1954 (interrupted by World War II, 1941-1945) revealed an extensive area of settlement containing sites inhabited variously from the Neolithic through Byzantine periods. The main sites were: Sotira (Neolithic) excavated by the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the Cyprus Department of Antiquities (P. Dikaios) in 1951, Bamboula (Late Bronze Age) and Kaloriziki Necropolis (Geometric) excavated by J. F. Daniel in 1937, 1939, and 1948, and Kourion (Classical through Roman) with the extensive Sanctuary of Apollo excavated by G. McFadden. Numerous other individuals participated periodically in the excavations, including Virginia Grace and DeCoursey Fales. When George McFadden died in a boating accident in 1953, the excavations were near completion, and so after a study season and the settling of administrative matters by G. Roger Edwards for the Museum, the excavations were closed. Research continues today on the Cypriot finds in the University of Pennsylvania Museum, and excavations at the site have been resumed in recent times by other institutions. The Penn Museum archives also house the records of Diana Buitron-Oliver, who excavated at Kourion in the early 1980s.

The excavations were led by B.H. Hill and George H. McFadden. Hill, a graduate of the University of Vermont received his M.A. from Columbia University. It was at Columbia that he participated in classes in classical studies and he eventually became a Fellow at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. Hill was an accomplished epigrapher in addition to his knowledge of architecture, sculpture and topography and the recipient of numerous honorary degress and memberships. He participated in excavations at Lapithos and Kourion for the Penn Museum.

George H. McFadden was a graduate of Princeton University who led the excavation at Kourion for the Penn Museum. He worked at the site off and on for twenty years and paved the way for further excavations by the Cypriot Department of Antiquities. Mc Fadden was killed in a sailing accident in 1953 near the end of the Kourion excavation.

After digging at Lapithos in 1930-1931, the Penn Museum, under B. H. Hill, resumed excavations in Cyprus in the spring of 1934 at Curium (Kourion), near Episkopi. Hill was assisted by George H. McFadden, a University of Pennsylvania Museum research associate and generous backer of the Cypriot program. The excavations, conducted from 1934-1954 (interrupted by World War II, 1941-1945) revealed an extensive area of settlement containing sites inhabited variously from the Neolithic through Byzantine periods. The main sites were: Sotira (Neolithic) excavated by the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the Cyprus Department of Antiquities (P. Dikaios) in 1951, Bamboula (Late Bronze Age) and Kaloriziki Necropolis (Geometric) excavated by J. F. Daniel in 1937, 1939, and 1948, and Kourion (Classical through Roman) with the extensive Sanctuary of Apollo excavated by G. McFadden. Numerous other individuals participated periodically in the excavations, including Virginia Grace and DeCoursey Fales. When George McFadden died in a boating accident in 1953, the excavations were near completion, and so after a study season and the settling of administrative matters by G. Roger Edwards for the Museum, the excavations were closed. Research continues today on the Cypriot finds in the University of Pennsylvania Museum, and excavations at the site have been resumed in recent times by other institutions. The Penn Museum archives also house the records of Diana Buitron-Oliver, who excavated at Kourion in the early 1980s.

A large segment of the Kourion records consist of correspondence and reports regarding financial and administrative matters, as well as the progress of the excavations. Correspondents include B. H. Hill, G. H. McFadden, J. F. Daniel, V. Grace, H. H. F. Jayne, M. A. Godfrey, and F. Rainey. Much of the 1953-55 correspondence concerns the settlement of McFadden's affairs, especially in relation to the excavation.

The numerous publications on Cyprus are listed in the May 1978 bibliography, including J. L. Benson's 1972 Museum Monograph, Bamboula at Kourion. See also "Publications of The University Museum–Mediterranean" (1973).

Publication Information: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives,

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Preferred Citation: [Item name]. Box [Box number]. Kourion, Cyprus Expedition records. Penn Museum Archives. Accessed [Date accessed].

Form(s)/Genre(s)

• Faculty papers
• Photographs
• Card catalogs

Geographic Name(s)

• Kourion (Extinct city)

Personal Name(s)

• McFadden, George H.
• Edwards, G. Roger, 1914-2009
• Fales, DeCoursey (1918-2000)
• Grace, Virginia R., 1901-1994
• Hill, B.H. (Bert Hodge)

Subject(s)

• Archaeology -- Burials
• Excavations (Archaeology)
• Designs and plans

The standard size records (all documents, photographic prints, and drawings up to 11x17 inches) in this collection have been digitized and may be accessed via this finding aid. Each folder has been scanned as a multi-page PDF; the contents presented in the original order. The PDFs have been labeled with the collection number (PU-Mu. 1050), the box number, and the folder number (i.e. PUMu1050_01_01). Oversize plans and drawings, as well as photographic negatives, have not been scanned.

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