A tiny pyramid-shaped island situated 125 miles outside of Athens could hold the key to understanding the beginnings of ancient Greek.
Archaeologists recently competed a four-year study of a site in the Aegean Sea called Dhaskalio, which is thought to date back roughly 4,600 years.
Complex architectural features including stairways and drainage systems that re-shaped the 150-meter-wide islet suggest Dhaskalio was home to an advanced civilization – one that that excelled in metalworking and possibly the circulation of weapons.
But, establishing this settlement wouldn’t have been easy.
Researchers say thousands of tons of marble along with obsidian building tools had to be imported from an island over six miles away, indicating the inhabitants were also skilled sailors.
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A tiny pyramid-shaped island situated 125 miles outside of Athens could hold the key to understanding how ancient Greece began. Archaeologists recently competed a four-year study of a site in the Aegean Sea called Dhaskalio
Dhaskalio sits beside Keros in the Cycladic Islands of Greece – a site that dates as far back as 2750 BC, and is said to be the earliest maritime sanctuary in the world.
‘At Dhaskalio we see a number of sophisticated architectural techniques employed in a well-thought through manner,’ Professor Colin Renfrew of the University of Cambridge and co-director of the excavation, said in a statement earlier this year.
‘These include massive entrance-ways, stone-flagged stairways, and an intricate drainage system covering the entire island.
‘This gives the clear impression of a skilled architect and a guiding hand planning and executing a building program whose scope can only be compared with a site like Knossos on Crete.’
Archaeologists with the Cambridge Keros Project launched excavations at the site in 2015, and spent the next four years uncovering evidence of an advanced prehistoric civilization.
According to the team, the Dhaskalio settlement flourished during a period known as the Cycladic Early Bronze Age, which spanned from roughly 3200 to 1050 BC.
On the island researchers found steep paths leading to the summit and enormous platforms designed to be built upon.
And for the most part, all buildings on the tiny island were made from good quality marble.
Architectural features including stairways (right), drainage systems, and stone-built structures that re-shaped the 150-meter-wide islet suggest Dhaskalio was home to an advanced civilization – one that that excelled in metalworking. A metalworking hearth is shown on left
Archaeologists with the Cambridge Keros Project launched excavations at the site in 2015, and spent the next four years uncovering evidence of an advanced prehistoric civilization
This had to be transported from the island of Naxos roughly 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away, the researchers say.
The construction process likely involved thousands of back and forth trips between Dhaskalio and the neighboring islands, each of which would have required a large crew of sailors.
‘The island of Keros is itself not a good prospect for supporting a thriving site like Dhaskalio,’ explained assistant director Dr Evi Margaritis of the Cyprus Institute.
‘All the evidence we are seeing is that much of the foodstuffs used on the site were imported to the site.
‘This implies an agricultural hinterland stretching out to nearby islands and is further evidence of Dhaskalio’s position at the top of a networked hierarchy of sites.’
The discoveries at Dhaskalio paint a vibrant picture of Bronze Age life in the Aegean Sea.
On the tiny island, researchers found a trove of metal artifacts including axes, chisels, pins, spearheads, and daggers, as well as copper slag on potsherds.
This, they say, makes Dhaskalio stand out from the rest.
Researchers say thousands of tons of marble along with obsidian building tools had to be imported from an island over six miles away
Based on the finds, archaeologists now suspect the people of Dhaskalio may have played an important role in supplying weapons and other metal products to the surrounding islands.
Dhaskalio sits beside Keros in the Cycladic Islands of Greece. It’s about 6 miles from Naxos, where the marble comes from
‘One of the unique features of this site is the way that metalworking seems to be a feature from the very beginning until the end,’ said Dr Michael Boyd of the University of Cambridge and co-director of the excavation.
‘It is one of the most identifiable activities on the site, practised almost everywhere we’ve dug.
‘Metalworking on this scale presumes a constant supply of raw materials from the western Cyclades or Attica, and social structures that allowed for learning and maintaining esoteric technical skills.
‘But, most importantly, where was all the finished product going? It seems likely that part of the point of the seafaring networks centering on Dhaskalio was the circulation of finished metal products like daggers.’
