'Statue of King' unearthed from a tomb during work to expand Ercan airport.

Roman-era artefacts have been unearthed from a tomb during work to expand Ercan airport.

Runway construction on the site, where a stream bed is also being diverted, was halted briefly while experts were called in to view the grave goods, which included a statue, a ”king’s” head and other body parts fashioned in clay.

It was allowed to continue after a study by archaeologists from the Antiquities Department revealed nothing further of interest.

Fuat Azimli, head of the department, said the team had gone out last week, the day after being alerted to the find by the police.

”A tomb made of soil was unearthed and we received notice that a statue had been found. As a result of our team’s study at the site we found some objects, including a ‘king’s’ head, four legs and three hands, believed to date from the Hellenistic-Roman period.”

Mr Azimli said the objects had been taken away by the experts for safe-keeping, cleaning and further study, including piecing together some which were broken.

He said a member of Antiquities Department staff had been posted at the site as an observer while the work continued, but they were not aware of the existence of a tomb in the area.

”There was no reason to halt the construction, as our team did not find any new items as a result of a series of investigations at the site,” he added.

By Anil isik for Cyprus Today