protected as
far as possible. The frequent presence of large building stones, and
especially of architectural fragments, in recent house-walls probably
indicates the neighbourhood of an ancient building: and all
reconstructions and fresh foundation-trenches should be kept under
observation. The present Antiquity Law provides for the inspection
and custody of ancient remains so exposed: the Curator of Ancient
Monuments is charged with the supervision of all buildings and
monuments above ground; the Keeper of Antiquities for the custody of
movable objects, and for the registration of those already in private
possession. Taking into consideration the utility of good building
material to the present owners of such sites, active co-operation to
preserve ancient masonry is not to be expected, unless local
patriotism and expectation of traffic from tourists can be enlisted
in support of Government regulations. Architectural fragments found
in reconstruction are often best preserved by arranging that they
shall be built conspicuously into one of the new walls, well above
ground-level, or transferred to the nearest church or school-house.

Sanctuaries
usually consist of a walled enclosure containing numerous pedestals
and bases of votive statues and other monuments. Usually only the
foundation-walls are of stone, as the same sun-dried brick was
commonly used in ancient as in modern times for the superstructure.
Such sites are often vary shallow, and when they occur in the open
country are liable to be disturbed by ploughing, when the smaller
statuettes and terra-cotta figures may be turned up in considerable
numbers. As most of our knowledge of the sculpture, as well as of the
religious observances, of ancient Cyprus is derived from such sites,
all such indications should be reported at once to the Keeper of
Antiquities, and arrangements made for the site to be examined with a
view to excavation before it is cultivated further. The sculpture on
these sites begins usually in the seventh century B.C.; before that
period terra-cotta figures were in use as far back as the ninth or
tenth century. Figures of 'Mixed Oriental' style, resembling Assyrian
or Egyptian work, give place about 500 B.C. to a provincial Greek
style, which passes gradually into Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman. The
material is almost invariably the soft local limestone, and the
workmanship is often clumsy; but even the coarser examples should be
treated carefully