Cyprus has a long history of tsunami events, as noted by archaeological and geological records. At Cape Greco (southeastern Cyprus) large boulders have been noted, however, no detailed geomorphological research has taken place so far and the related high energy event was undated until now. Our research aims to record in detail and interpret these large boulders deposits. The boulders, located between ≈3 and 4.5 m a.m.s.l., are fragments of an upper Pleistocene aeolianite, which is overlaying unconformly a lower Pleistocene calcarenite. Dimensions and spatial distribution of 272 small, medium, and large boulders were documented, while their precise distance from the coastline was recorded by field mapping and remote sensing, using Differential GPS (DGPS), drone, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technics. Field data were subsequently combined with hydrodynamic equations, in order to determine the extreme event(s) that caused their transport inland, and radiocarbon dating was accomplished on three samples of Vermetus sp. to determine the chronological context. Our findings appear to broadly correlate with the 1303 AD tsunami, which has displaced at least part of the studied boulders, and one other undocumented event at AD 1512-1824. The large number of boulders and sizes in our study area further indicate that their dislocation is most likely owed to multiple events from various sources.

Cyprus has a long history of tsunami activity, as described in archaeological and geological records. Although the study area has experienced tsunamis in the past and constitutes an area threatened by this hazard both from the Cyprean arc and from the neighboring Hellenic arc, field research on tsunami evidence on the coastal zone of Cyprus still remains scarce. It is clear from the literature that large boulder accumulations are an important feature along the coasts of Cyprus, testifying to extreme events. A detailed field survey revealed that at various locations cited in the literature as hosting geomorphological evidence of past tsunamis, no such evidence was identified. It is likely that the high touristic activity that has been occurring on the coasts of Cyprus during the last 20 years may have affected tsunami indicators such as boulder accumulations. Tsunamis are unpredictable and infrequent but potentially large-impact natural disasters. The latest strong tsunami that caused damage to the Cypriot coast was centuries ago, when the population and economic growth and development at the Cypriot shoreline did not exist. Today, the coastal zone hosts a higher population as well as increasing touristic activity, highlighting the need for better preparedness, awareness raising and for tsunami-related risk reduction.

Akrotiri Salt Lake is located 5 km west of the city of Lemesos in the southernmost part of the island of Cyprus. The evolution of the Akrotiri Salt Lake is of great scientific interest, occurring during the Holocene when eustatic and isostatic movements combined with local active tectonics and climate change developed a unique geomorphological environment. The Salt Lake today is a closed lagoon, which is depicted in Venetian maps as being connected to the sea, provides evidence of the geological setting and landscape evolution of the area. In this study, for the first time, we investigated the development of the Akrotiri Salt Lake through a series of three cores which penetrated the Holocene sediment sequence. Sedimentological and micropaleontological analyses, as well as geochronological studies were performed on the deposited sediments, identifying the complexity of the evolution of the Salt Lake and the progressive change of the area from a maritime space to an open bay and finally to a closed salt lake.

The preservation of cultural heritage faces increasing challenges from environmental, climatic, and anthropogenic pressures. The ARGUS Horizon Europe project addresses these challenges by proposing an innovative predictive preservation approach that leverages AI-driven digital twins and multimodal data fusion to assess and mitigate risks to heritage sites. Our research focuses on developing a sustainable, dynamic decision support system (DSS) that integrates multi-scale on-site and remote sensing data, enabling holistic heritage management, while focusing on the preventive rather than the reactive aspects. The primary research question treated in this paper relates to how digital twins incorporating multi-dimensional data and an ontology background enhance the preservation and adaptive management of cultural heritage in a changing environment.

The antiquity of human dispersal into Mediterranean islands and ensuing coastal adaptation have remained largely unexplored due to the prevailing assumption that the sea was a barrier to movement and that islands were hostile environments to early hunter-gatherers [J. F. Cherry, T. P. Leppard,J. Isl. Coast. Archaeol.13, 191–205 (2018),10.1080/15564894.2016.1276489]. Using the latest archaeological data, hindcasted climate projections, and age-structured demographic models, we demonstrate evidence for early arrival (14,257 to 13,182 calendar years ago) to Cyprus and predicted that large groups of people (~1,000 to 1,375) arrived in 2 to 3 main events occurring within <100 y to ensure low extinction risk. These results indicate that the postglacial settlement of Cyprus involved only a few large-scale, organized events requiring advanced watercraft technology. Our spatially debiased and Signor–Lipps-corrected estimates indicate rapid settlement of the island within <200 y, and expansion to a median of 4,000 to 5,000 people (0.36 to 0.46 km⁻²) in <11 human generations (<300 y). Our results do not support the hypothesis of inaccessible and inhospitable islands in the Mediterranean for pre-agropastoralists, agreeing with analogous conclusions for other parts of the world [M. I. Birdet al.,Sci. Rep.9, 8220 (2019),10.1038/s41598-019-42946-9]. Our results also highlight the need to revisit these questions in the Mediterranean and test their validity with new technologies, field methods, and data. By applying stochastic models to the Mediterranean region, we can place Cyprus and large islands in general as attractive and favorable destinations for paleolithic peoples.

Two well-developed late Pleistocene dune fields have been identified on the western and eastern side of Akrotiri promontory (Lemesos, Cyprus). The dune fields extend immediately from the low level of their source beaches onto higher ground (>48 m amsl). Geomorphic observations supported by OSL dating and sedimentological data provided evidence of the dune development and for the palaeogeographic reconstruction of the area. Relative sea level changes and wave action during the upper Pleistocene and Holocene played an important role into the development of the palaeolandscape and affected the formation of the dunes. From the collected data the development of the western dune field started at 56.2 ± 5.5 ka when the relative sea level was at approximately −60 m and contributed to the development of the western tombolo of the area whereas the eastern dune field developed in the late Holocene, after the formation of the eastern spit that resulted in the formation of the Akrotiri Salt lake.