Apart from their scientific importance, the excavations in summer 2005 and detailed documentation of the architectural structures and finds on the top plateau became necessary because of imminent dangers to the site. Its exposed position and geological composition (limestone) have led to heavy erosion of the hill, and the activities of looters after the discovery of the hoard threatened to cause substantial damage to the site. The excavations of the central part of the settlement are complemented by geophysical surveys of the rest.
In addition, the settlement area in the surroundings of Kraltepe/Vasili which is naturally limited by the sea and mountain ranges is being surveyed archaeologically and geophysically. The acquisition of the data is being supported by GIS which will give information about the internal structure and development of the region. This will make it possible for the first time to get a deeper insight into the very complex archaeological potential of the Karpaz peninsula.
In antiquity, the peninsula had an extremely advantageous geographical position close to one of the busiest shipping routes in the Mediterranean. Furthermore, the Karpaz is the part of Cyprus closest to the most important economic and cultural areas in the northern Levant and in southeastern Anatolia. From the Late Bronze Age on, relations with these areas became particularly intense as the island's immense copper ore resources were important to the complex societies of the Eastern Mediterranean. Under Near Eastern influence, wealthy settlements with urban structures emerged in Cyprus. Kraltepe/Vasili has now become the first of them to be discovered on the Karpaz.