Vounous: C.F.A. Schaeffer's Excavations in 1933. Tombs 49-79 (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology)

Vounous is the name of a low hill overlooking the sea on the north coast of Cyprus. It is situated one and a half miles east of the Abbey of Bellapais, which is one of the chief tourist attractions of the island. The site, located in the northern foothills of the Kyrenia range, is a large prehistoric Bronze Age cemetery. Its tombs were looted in the early 1930's and the Department of Antiquities was alerted of the sale of Red Polished vases at Kyrenia. Porphyros Dikaios, Curator of the Cyprus Museum, undertook the rescue excavations at Vounous in 1931-1932 and uncovered tombs 1-48. In June, 1933, Claude F.A. Schaeffer excavated tombs 49-79 in the same area. An expedition of the British School at Athens continued the excavations in 1937-1938. All of them conducted unsuccessful field research around the site in order to find a settlement connected to the necropolis.