The study of the traces of painted plaster from the Roman phases of the Paphos theatre by Professor Diana Wood Conroy is one of the most exciting aspects of the Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project. It gives a tantalising glimpse of how colourful antiquity must have been, as well as the creative expression on the walls of the theatre (an old building by the time of the application of the paint brush to the plastered surface of the parodoi in the Antonine phase).

That is why it is exciting to see splashes of colour on old walls now in Ktima Paphos as part of the Pafos2017 festivities.  Street art is reflective of contemporary culture just as the designs on the theatre's wall reflected Roman tastes and styles.  Some of the works exhibited in Paphos are extraordinary.

One can only wonder what future archaeologist will make of the faded traces of the painted walls of Paphos c. 2017.

The Street Art Square Festival was part of Pafos2017 celebrations.

In amongst our more usual finds each season - ceramic sherds, architectural pieces, rusted metals and fragments of glass ancient to modern, there is always something odd.  Something which doesn't quite fit.

Trench 17B this year provided the team with that "odd" object - a cassette tape in one of the upper layers, very close to one of the former farms used as a dig house in the early seasons of the excavations.

​Perhaps it was left there by one of the students in our first mid-1990s seasons.  After all, the walkman was still a popular form of entertainment then, long before digital music platforms.  

The archaeology of archaeology!

Today for the first time in the history of the site, the architecture was recorded from above using a drone.

Despite the use of helicopters and balloons in the past to capture the site from the air, the use of a drone will provide us with stable aerial images.

We shall put some online as soon as they are processed; today despite some wind and bad weather, the flight of the drone went perfectly as can be seen in these photos from the ground!