William Childs’ particular interest lies in the Eastern Mediterranean. The department began excavations under his direction at the small village of Polis Chrysochous on the northwest shore of Cyprus in 1983. The main objective of the project was to locate the city that had produced noteworthy and rich tombs that had been sporadically excavated for over a hundred years by European expeditions and local treasure-hunters. Literary sources record two cities in the vicinity: Marion, the seat of an Archaic kingdom that was destroyed by Ptolemy I Soter, in 312 B.C., and Arsinoe, founded by Ptolemy II Philadelphos in the 270s. The excavations have uncovered an archaic and a classical sanctuary, large sections of the fourth-century city wall, part of what may be an archaic palace, a large Roman building of Augustan and early imperial date, and two early Christian to Byzantine basilicas.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS: “L'urbanisme B Chypre d'aprés les fouilles de l'Université de Princeton à Marion (Polis Chrysochous),” in La naissance de la ville dans l'antiquité, eds. M. Reddé et al. (Paris 2003), “The Human Animal: The East and Greece,” in The Centaur's Smile: The Human Animal in Early Greek Art, ed. M.J. Padgett (Princeton 2003), "Princeton Excavations at Polis Chrysochous, 1994-1997: Interim Report," Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus (1999), “Early Greek Bronze Plaques in Princeton,” The Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, 60 (2001).