During the later 19th century, plenty of limestone statuettes, terracotta and bronze figurines were found in Amargeti. This attracted the British archaeologist D. J. Hogarth who began to dig in a vineyard north of the village. He discovered votives, which were addressed to Opaon Melanthios. Furthermore, in a yard belonging to a certain Stilianos Paphios, some finds of bronze figurines were made.
During the excavations of Hogarth (1888, 769) several walls, some of them built with sculptures, architectural fragments and sculptures were found: “In the vineyard itself I have found remains of walls at a depth of four feet, but, as some of the said statuettes were found built into them, they cannot represent the temple, and the most probable suggestion I can make, after thoroughly trenching the neighbourhood, is that the stream (which is a winter torrent, and possibly has not always run here) has cut away the temple, and piled up its remains–stones, bits of columns, statuettes, and so forth–in the confusion in which we found them.”
In the 1960s, several finds were reported in the parcel of Petros Anthropos (Masson 1994, 261-275, esp. 265; Karageorghis 1963; Karageorghis 1964; Karageorghi 1966). These included a marble pedestal with a dedication to Opaon Melanthios and a limestone altar sculpture with a dedication to Melanthio, a limestone group of three men, a bronze Eros and a Roman lamp.
The Canadian Palaipaphos Survey Project surveyed the backcountry of Kouklia from 1979 until 1991, identifying several sites in Amargeti: Amargeti Village, Amargeti-Triantafylies Ag. Asomatos, Amargeti-Petros Anthropos B Sanctuary of Apollo. The artefacts collected during the survey range from Classical to Byzantine and Mediaeval periods (Rupp 1981 – 2004; Rupp – King 1983; Sørensen – Rupp 1993).
A basic contribution to the site was published by Olivier Masson in 1994 who emphasized that in his time still sculptures could be found on the surface: “Ce dernier (sc. F. G. Maier) observe que le secteur a été récemment aplanie au bulldozer; toutefois, après les pluies d’hiver, on y ramasse encore des fragments de statuettes et des tessons (notamment d’époque romaine).» This has been confirmed by the local people who named the site Asomatos as further find place of sculptures. Masson recurred on a list of findings provided by Demetrios Michaelides, former archaeological officer of the Pafos District. Michaelides also listed Geometric and Archaic finds.
Finds from the Neolithic period, the Bronze Age, the Geometric, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods are mentioned and depicted in an exhibition catalogue, written by S. Sophocleous, E. Vasiliou, C. Pissaridis, C. Argyrou: “Exhibit of Apollo Melanthios” (Nicosia 2002). The Geometric and Archaic vases depicted in this catalogue were confiscated by the Department of Antiquities and most probably come from tombs.
In 2016, Gabriele Ambros dedicated a paper to the sanctuary of Apollon Melanthios at Amargeti. She listed no only archaeological finds and inscriptions found at Amargeti but also made remarks on the epithet Melanthios, the name Opaon and the cult on this site.
First results of the Graz Amargeti Survey Project were published in several contributions (Koiner et al. 2020; Koiner 2021; Koiner et al. 2022).
Graves have not been scientifically investigated, but they were mentioned by Hogarth:
Hogarth 1888, 769: “The tombs lie on the steep rocky hill north of the site, but as might be expected from the rustic character of the other remains, their contents do not repay much exploration."
As tomb robbing is still a recent problem, the catalog of the Apollon Melanthios exhibition (Sophocleous et al. 2002) lists several complete geometric and archaic vessels that were confiscated in the village by the Department of Antiquities (nos. 8-12, 17, 18, 20). Archaic and Hellenistic vessels, probably from graves, were found during rescue excavations by the Department (Sophocleous et al. 2002, nos. 13-15, 19). A two-syllable, Cypro-Syllabic epitaph indicates a Classical tomb (Masson 1983).
Objects from earlier excavations or investigations are kept in the Cyprus Museum (Myres - Ohnefalsch-Richter 1899), the Archaeological Museum of the Paphos District, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Objects from earlier excavations or investigations are kept in the Cyprus Museum (Myres - Ohnefalsch-Richter 1899), the Archaeological Museum of the Paphos District, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
These sculptures are made of limestone, terracotta and bronze. The limestone statuettes mainly represented male figures, which in some cases were said to be phallic or holding bunches of grapes. Doves made of limestone as well as female and male terracotta figures complete the votive collection (Ulbrich 2019). Several male limestone statuettes in a very simple design were classified as late (antique) or rather Hellenistic (Ulbrich 2019). However, three pan-statuettes in New York and Odessa, which are supposed to originate from Amargeti, were found in Golgoi or other places and have no connection with the cult of Opaon/Apollon Melanthios in Amargeti.
In October 2018, March and April 2019 Gabriele Ambros and Gabriele Koiner got in touch with the mayor and members of the Amargeti community and visited the fields at the Petros Anthropos and Asomatos sites. In October 2018 in particular, Roman pottery was discovered at Petros Anthropos and Asomatos, where fragments of possibly carved stones were also found on the ground (parts of the ruined church on this parcel?).
The inscriptions are predominantly votive in nature, some are dedicated to Apollon Melanthios or Opaon Melanthios (cf. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cesnola Collection 74.51.2431). At least one inscription bears witness to a cult of Gaius and Lucius Caesar (Pafos Museum inv. no. 1241: Mitford 1961, 107-109 no. 9; Fujii 2013, 44. 65. 71. 113. 149). Two epitaphs, one Cypriot (Masson 1983, 144-145 cat. 88a) and one Roman, are preserved as rare remains of funerary inscriptions. In addition, there are eleven inscriptions on amphora handles that were discovered in Petros Anthropos and provide information about the economic situation of the village (I. Nicolaou, RDAC 1970, 159-162; Praecorpus IG XV 2, 117-119 Tit. Amargetti 25-35; Ambros 2016, 62). For the inscriptions from Amargetti, see Ambros 2016, Ambros 2017 and Ambros 2019 as well as IG XV 2 (Praecorpus).