Changes Project in Libya

During the survey and mapping season in April (5-15 April 2025) of the Archaeological Mission of Chieti University in Libya, several activities have been dedicated to CHANGES project. First of all the Mission has been dedicated to investigate and map the damages of the terrible Daniel Storm in Cyrenaica, which has been due to this modern time of climate changes, and which caused a large number of victims and damages to the ancient monuments of the Greek Colony of Cyrene and its ancient harbor of Phykous. The diagnostic study of the consequences of the catastrophic event, has been also important to study within the ancient stratigraphy, possible similar natural situations in antiquity including landslides and alluvial events, and many proofs have been mapped and recorded. A second typology of research has been done in the area called ‘fertile desert’, which is in a pre-desertic zone in eastern Libya, in order to understand why very monumental fortifications were build during Roman and Byzantine period, in an area which is today attesting a strong desertification. A third motivation for the fieldtrip has been the dissemination concerning the activities and the preliminary results of the project in different areas of Libya, such as Tripoli, Shahat, Benghazi.