3D Technologies and Virtual Reality in Archaeology: Preserving the Kition Ship Graffiti from Late Bronze Age Cyprus

Abstract. The southern façade of Temple 1 at the site of Kition (Cyprus) is a unique feature of interest for the maritime cultural heritage of the Eastern Mediterranean, representing the largest concentration of Late Bronze-Early Iron Age ship graffiti from a single context in the region. Due to continuous exposure to the elements and their visible degradation in the last forty years since their excavation, in 2024 the graffiti were recorded using digital photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning as a means to both digitally preserve and re-study them. The produced dataset has revealed as many as twenty-three previously unknown graffiti, highlighting the efficacy of 3D recording technologies in the study of petroglyphs on highly damaged surfaces. The third component of our multipronged project involves the digital restoration of the Temple 1 complex, with the goal of creating an accessible, immersive, and historically accurate virtual reconstruction of the graffiti in their broader archaeological context.