The sculpture of the early bronze age Cyclades has been systematically studied since the time of Christos Tsountas at the end of the 19th century. But that study has been hampered by the circumstance that so many of the subsequent finds come from unauthorized excavations, where the archaeological context was irretrievably lost. Largely for that reason there are still many problems surrounding the chronology, the function and the meaning of Early Cycladic sculpture. This lavishly illustrated and comprehensive reassessment sets out to rectify that situation by publishing finds which have been recovered in controlled excavations in recent years, as well as earlier finds for which better documentation can now be provided. Using the material from recent excavation projects, and drawing on the papers presented at a symposium held in Athens in 2014, it is possible now to undertake a fresh overview of the entire body of sculpture from the Cycladic islands which has been found in secure archaeological contexts. Beginning with early examples from Neolithic settlement sites and extending into a consideration of material found in later contexts, the 35 chapters are divided into sections which examine sculpture from settlements, cemeteries and the sanctuary at Kavos, concluding with a discussion of material, techniques and aspects of manufacture.
Contents
List of contributors
Abbreviations
List of figures
List of tables
Preface
1 Colin Renfrew
Early Cycladic sculpture: issues of provenance, terminology and classification
2 Marisa Marthari
Early Cycladic sculptures as archaeological objects
Origins: The Neolithic settlements
3 Colin Renfrew
The sculptures of Neolithic Saliagos
4 Adamantios Sampson & Vagia Mastrogiannopoulou
Figurines from the late Neolithic settlement of Ftelia, Mykonos
5 Christina Televantou
Figurines from Strofilas, Andros
The early phase
6 Christos Doumas
Figurines from Akrotiri, Naxos and Plastiras, Paros
7 Jörg Rambach
Schematic marble figurines from secure Early Cycladic I grave contexts on the islands of Ano Kouphonisi, Antiparos, Dhespotiko, Naxos, Paros and Siphnos
8 Dora Papangelopoulou
A schematic figurine of shell from Mersinia on Kythnos
The Early Cycladic II and III settlements
9 David Wilson
The Cycladic marble figurines from EB II Ayia Irini, Kea: evidence for ritual deposition in domestic contexts
10 Peggy Pantou
A Fragment of an Early Cycladic figurine from the prehistoric settlement at Plakalona on Seriphos
11 Zozi D. Papadopoulou
Sculptures from Akrotiraki, Siphnos and its cemetery
12 Marisa Marthari
Cycladic figurines in settlements: the case of the major EC II settlement at Skarkos on Ios
Yannis Maniatis
Appendix: non-invasive examination of marble figurines from Skarkos on Ios
13 Colin Renfrew
The figurines from the settlement at Dhaskalio
14 Olga Philaniotou
Figurines from Potamia on Epano Kouphonisi (Pandelis Tsavaris plot)
The Early Cycladic II cemeteries
15 Christos Doumas & Vassilis Lambrinoudakis
The cemetery at Aplomata on Naxos
Olga Philaniotou
Appendix: pottery from the cemetery of Aplomata, Naxos
16 Irini Legaki
Sculptures from Phionda, Naxos
17 Christos Doumas
Sculptures from Aghioi Anargyroi and Avdeli, Naxos
18 Olga Philaniotou
Sculptures from the cemetery of Tsikniades, Naxos
19 Giorgos Gavalas
Marble figurines from sites on Epano and Kato Kouphonisi
20 Marisa Marthari
Figurines in context at the Chalandriani cemetery on Syros
Yannis Maniatis
Appendix: non-invasive examination of marble objects from Chalandriani, Syros
21 Lena Papazoglou-Manioudaki
The Early Cycladic figurines from the excavations of Clon Stephanos on Syros and a note on his work on Naxos: towards context
Dimitris Tambakopoulos & Yannis Maniatis
Appendix: optical examination of 14 Cycladic figurines from Syros
The sanctuary (the special deposits) at Kavos, Keros
22 Photeini Zapheiropoulou
The complete canonical sculpture of Spedos variety from Dhaskalio Kavos on Keros
23 Peggy Sotirakopoulou, Colin Renfrew & Michael J. Boyd
Selected sculptural fragments from the Special Deposit North at Kavos on Keros
24 Colin Renfrew
The figurine fragments recovered from the Special Deposit North at Kavos in 1987
25 Giorgos Gavalas
The stone vessels found at Dhaskalio Kavos in 1987
26 Colin Renfrew & Michael Boyd
Selected sculptural fragments from the Special Deposit South at Kavos on Keros
27 Judit Haas-Lebegyev
Marble and other spools from the excavations at Dhaskalio and the Special Deposit South at Kavos, Keros (2006-2008), and related Cycladic finds
Sites with Early Cycladic sculptures in later deposits
28 Stella Katsarou & Demetrius U. Schilardi
Recontextualized Neolithic and Early Cycladic figurines at the acropolis of Koukounaries, Paros
29 Carol R. Hershenson & John C. Overbeck
Early Cycladic figurines in later contexts at Ayia Irini, Kea
30 Colin Renfrew & Michael Boyd
The marble sculptures from Phylakopi on Melos
31 Christos Doumas
Early Cycladic sculptures from the settlement at Akrotiri, Thera
32 Robin Barber
Terracotta figurines from Mikre Vigla, Naxos
Material, technique and manufacture
33 Dimitris Tambakopoulos & Yannis Maniatis
The marble of the Cyclades and its use in the early Βronze Αge
34 Yannis Papadatos & Epaminondas Venieris
An experimental approach to the manufacture of Cycladic-type figurines with folded arms: preliminary observations
35 Kiki Birtacha
Examining the paint on Cycladic figurines
Marisa Marthari is Ephor of Antiquities (Emerita) at the Greek Archaeological Service and formerly Director of the Ephoreia of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities for the Cyclades and Samos, where she conducted numerous excavations and directed projects on museum exhibitions and presentation of archaeological sites.
Colin Renfrew (Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn) was formerly Disney Professor of Archaeology and Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in the University of Cambridge, and Master of Jesus College Cambridge from 1986 to 1997. He has excavated at a number of sites in prehistoric Greece and in the Orkney Islands, and is the author of many publications, including Prehistory: the making of the human mind (2008). He is Fellow of the British Academy, Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, and was the recipient of the Balzan Prize in 2004.
Michael Boyd is a Senior Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. His main research interests lie in the archaeology of death and in the prehistoric Aegean, where he has worked in the Peloponnese and Cyclades. He is co-director of current excavations on Keros and co-editor of the Keros publications series. He has published a book on Mycenaean funerary practices, and is co-editing a volume on funerary archaeology, Staging Death, and another on the origins of play and ritual. He has worked widely in Greece and Bulgaria.
