The Swedish Cyprus Expedition was assembled to systematically investigate Cyprus’s early archaeological history. The expedition occurred between September 1927 and March 1931 and was led by the three archaeologists Einar Gjerstad, Erik Sjöqvist and Alfred Westholm together with the architect John Lindros who photographed during their time in Cyprus.Medelhavsmuseet, The exhibition: Cypern genom tiderna, The Leventis Gallery of Cypriote Antiquities, "The Expedition", Stockholm 2009. https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/object/3953672 The excavation constitutes the foundation of modern archaeology in Cyprus. The results of the excavations revealed that the distinctive culture of early Cyprus had been created in close contact with various cultures from the Middle East and the western Mediterranean areas.
Through careful archaeological excavations around the whole island of Cyprus, the Swedish Cyprus Expedition mapped Cyprus's history from the Stone Age to the end of the Roman period. Archaeological excavations were made at various locations in Cyprus including Lapithos, Nitovikla, Agia Eirini, Marion, Idalion, Amathus, and Enkomi. They investigated around 25 sites all over the island during the short time of four years. The results were published in four volumes. Most of the archaeological materials are now kept at the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm.
The goal of the excavation was to obtain more knowledge of how people lived, their religious practices as well as burial practices during the Stone Age until the Roman period. Therefore they excavated settlements, temples, graves, forts, a palace complex, and a Roman theatre. Additionally, they investigated Cyprus’s neolithic living areas which were previously unknown. Because the Swedish archaeologists were very inspired by Oscar Montelius, they worked systematically both during the excavations and publications. Einar Gjerstad applied Montelius' classification when he divided Cypriot pottery from the Bronze and Iron Ages into the phases "early", "middle" and "late". These divisions are still widely accepted. Montelius' extensive use of "closed contexts" to establish typological sequences lies behind the Swedish Cyprus Expedition's methods and results.Medelhavsmuseet, The exhibition: The Leventis Gallery of Cypriote Antiquities: the Mezzanine Floor. ”Oscar Montelius (1843-1921) Svensk forskare i nordisk förhistoria.” Stockholm, 2009. https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/object/3953672 To be able to create a chronology and a typology of the archaeological material they dug out close to 375 graves from different periods. Among other things, the graves contained around 10,000 ceramic vases. At religious places such as the places of worship and temple areas, they found thousands of sculptures made of stone and terracotta.
The Swedish archaeologist’s families came along to Cyprus, therefore Rosa Lindros, Vivi Gjerstad and her children as well as their nanny Gudrun Atterman can be seen in the pictures from the excavation. The expedition’s chauffeur Toulis Souidos was a Cypriot man who helped with various things during the expedition, such as conservation work, for example. Later he followed the expedition back to Sweden where he continued to work with the Cyprus collections. Furthermore, the expedition could never have happened without all the other men and women who worked at the excavations.
Background Before the excavation, Einar Gjerstad had visited Cyprus during the years 1923 and 1924 to make preliminary archaeological investigations which resulted in his thesis, Studies on Prehistoric Cyprus, 1926. The next year, 1927, Gjerstad proposed a more detailed project with Cyprus as the survey area. On Gjerstad's initiative, the Swedish Cyprus Committee was established the same year with the intention to organize an archaeological expedition and support the excavation economically. The committee consisted of the Swedish crown prince Gustaf VI Adolf as chairman, Sigurd Curman as secretary, Johannes Hellner as treasurer, and Martin P. Nilsson as well as Axel W. Persson. Einar Gjerstad was appointed as project manager and John Lindros, Erik Sjöqvist, and Alfred Westholm were appointed as assistants. Gjerstad was responsible for the organization of the expedition and Sjöqvist and Westholm were responsible for the archaeological fieldwork. Lindros was responsible for the drawings and photographs. With Gustaf VI Adolf as chairman, the opportunities to collect financial resources from private donors and patrons increased due to his royal status. The financing largely occurred through private donors and Gjerstad managed to get contributions from the financier Ivar Kreuger, among others. Einar Gjerstad borrowed one of the first manufactured Volvo cars, Volvo ÖV 4. The car was probably number three in the series called Jacob and was delivered to Cyprus year 1927. It was reported that the car worked well and could drive on the bumpy donkey trails at 60 km/h.
Cyprus was under British rule since 1878 and become a so-called crown colony in 1925. The foreign minister Sir Ronald Storrs was installed as governor in 1926. The following year the Swedes came to the island. Excavations were part of Storr's tourism strategy to fill the archaeological museum in Nicosia, which was designed by a British architect. In this context, Gustaf VI Adolf's prestige and influence as crown prince played an important role. It would probably have been difficult to get permission for the large-scale excavations in Cyprus without him.
The distribution of the finds
In March 1931 the archaeologists and their families returned to Sweden with the objects from Cyprus. According to the legislation at the time they divided the findings between Cyprus and Sweden. When the final negotiations regarding the archaeological material took place in October 1930, Gustaf Adolf visited Cyprus to personally lead the negotiations. Sweden acquired around 12,000 of the 18,000 objects and therefore more than half of the objects, which was otherwise the custom, probably thanks to Gustaf Adolf. The archaeological material was packed in 771 wooden boxes and brought to Sweden in March 1931. The objects from the Cyprus expedition created the base of Medelhavsmuseet’s collection when it opened in 1954 and are still on display in the museum's permanent exhibition. Furthermore, Medelhavsmuseet’s warehouses are today full of ceramics, sculptures, and metal objects made of bronze, silver, gold, copper, and Roman glass from the Cyprus expedition.
The Publications When the expedition returned to Sweden 1931, they could process and work with the material from Cyprus. In Stockholm they had the help of a lot of assistants such as Margit Hallberg for example, who worked with the archaeological materials in the freezing rooms of the historic museum at the Krubban quarter.
The expedition’s archaeological material was published a few years after their return to Stockholm. The first three volumes came out in 1934–1937 and then the fourth volume in 1948.Medelhavsmuseet, The Exhibition: The Leventis Gallery of Cypriote Antiquities: the Mezzanine Floor, ”Publikationerna" Stockholm, 2009. Carlotta, https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/object/3953672 The publication is dedicated to the ladies of the excavations in grateful recognition of much valuable assistance and collaboration. For example, Vivi Gjerstad rendered good service to the Expedition in various ways both during the excavations in Cyprus and during the preparation of the publication by proofs reading, etc. Margareta Sjöqvist monitored the registration work and assisted in the typing. Later, five further specialized studies were published, each of them treating a different period. They were created by Cypriot, British, and Swedish archaeologists. Few other archaeological expeditions have published their findings so quickly and thoroughly. To this day these publications are fundamental to all archaeological research centered around Cyprus. In addition to the archaeological material the expedition’s participants left behind plenty of letters, thousands of photographs, and several videos. The archival material provides a unique insight into daily life on the island and shows Cyprus at the crossroads between an old and a new world. At the same time, it testifies to the young men's enthusiasm and sincere love for Cyprus, its history and people.Medelhavsmuseet, The Exhibition: The Leventis Gallery of Cypriote Antiquities: the Mezzanine Floor. ”Utgrävningarna" Stockholm, 2009. Carlotta, https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/object/3953672 Most of the archaeological material are now kept at the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm.
Summaries of some of the excavation sites
Lapithos, the autumn 1927–spring 1928
The village of Lapithos is located in the north of Cyprus. Close to Lapithos there is a big grave burial from the Bronze Age (ca. 2000–1800 BCE) with hundreds of graves. John Myres did an excavation here in 1913 and Menelaos Markides in 1917. Furthermore, grave diggers had looted the site multiple times before the Swedish archaeologist got there. The Swedish excavation at Lapithos from 1927–1928 resulted in a multitude of ceramics and weapons made of copper and bronze. They also found delicate proboscis jugs with elongated necks (beak spouted) and shiny red paint, which are similar to contemporary ceramics from Anatolia.
The oldest settlement, dating from the Neolithic or Chalcolithic period, is located to the west of the village of Lapithos and is called Alonia ton Plakon. This place was damaged by humans and natural causes during the course of history, therefore, the area of the settlement are difficult to define. The eastern settlement’s preservation was deteriorated because of winter floods and Roman, Byzantine, and modern cultivation. Therefore, only a few remains of houses were found, such as some stone foundation walls, hearths and three bothroi cut into the rock. The site probably had four periods of habitations. After the site was abandoned, it was disturbed in the Geometric period when the place was used as a necropolis, therefore the archaeologists found tombs cut into the rock. During this period, they used stones from the foundations of the Neolithic houses as doors to the tombs. The western settlement contained remains of four huts. Three hearths were found here as well. The finds were mainly of three classes: objects of flint, stone and pottery. The brown coloured flint is very common. The stone objects are mostly axe heads, hammers and chisels. Most of the pottery belonged to these classes: red polished ware, plain white ware and painted ware. The settlements are dated to 3000 B.C. although the Eastern settlement should be dated a bit earlier than the western.