Two French archaeologists who have spent more than 50 years excavating and studying Cyprus’s Neolithic settlement at Choirokoitia received the Award for the Rescue and Promotion of Cyprus’s Archaeological Heritage yesterday evening.
President Nikos Christodoulides presented the award to Alain Le Brun and Odile Daune-Le Brun at a Deputy Ministry of Culture event at the Pallas Theatre in Nicosia. The pair have led a large interdisciplinary team at Choirokoitia for the past five decades.
The archaeologists worked closely with the Antiquities Department on a management plan for the site, spearheaded the creation of experimental Neolithic houses and designed educational programmes. They contributed greatly to Choirokoitia’s recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Christodoulides said the award was given “as a minimal token of gratitude for their long-term and valuable contribution to our country,” adding that “today’s award underlines simultaneously Cyprus’s close and enduring relationship with France, a country that supported and promoted Cyprus’s cultural heritage for many decades.”
The president referred to the government’s decision to revive the award after 14 years to highlight Cypriot archaeology. Past recipients include Konstantinos Leventis (2002), Dimitris Pieridis (2004), the Swedish Archaeological Mission Cyprus (2006), the Cultural Foundation of the Bank of Cyprus (2008) and Vasos Karageorghis (2011).
The event marks celebrations for the Antiquities Department’s 90th anniversary. Christodoulides called it “a reminder of the responsibility we all have towards our archaeological heritage” and “an opportunity to honour the work of people who served and serve the Antiquities Department.”
Dr Maria Iacovou, professor emeritus of prehistoric and protohistoric archaeology at the University of Cyprus and chair of the awards committee, read the rationale for the award. She said “the scientific work of the candidates and their continuous laborious presence in Cyprus’s archaeological field exceeds half a century and dates before the Turkish invasion of 1974.”
The committee unanimously recognised that Le Brun and Daune-Le Brun did not abandon Cyprus when they were displaced from their research field in the far reaches of Karpasia. Instead, they rescued, studied and published archaeological data of primary importance from the now-occupied Neolithic site of Kastros at Apostolos Andreas, which has since been destroyed by the Turkish occupation army.
Iacovou praised the scientific completeness of their publications, noting they enhanced the prestige of Cypriot archaeology and achieved recognition of the island’s remote prehistory as a distinct scientific subject essential for interpreting the long course of Mediterranean prehistory.
The ceremony drew members of the diplomatic corps, the academic and archaeological community, and many Choirokoitia residents connected to the two archaeologists through long-standing friendships.
