The ancient civilization of the cyclades It developed on a group of islands in the Aegean Sea, thousands of years ago. The investigations and studies of the findings found have allowed us to delve a little deeper into a very rich culture, of which there are still many blind spots to discover.
Cycladic civilization
To talk about the Cycladic civilization we have to place ourselves in the Copper and Bronze Ages, specifically between the years 3000 and 1100 BC. This civilization originated in the middle of the Aegean, together with the other two important cultures of the Bronze Age: the Minoan and the Mycenaean.
The Cyclades are a group of islands and islets that are located in the south aegean, between the Sporades and Crete. Today they are formed by the islands of Mykonos, Paros, Milo or Milos, Sifnos, Amorgós, Tinos, Serifos or Serfanto and Santorini.
History of the Cycladic civilization
Given the antiquity of this civilization, there is still a lot of data that is unknown and cannot be known for sure. What we can affirm is that it has been one of the richest civilizations and that the archaeological finds that have been made are a sample of art.
Origin of the Cycladic inhabitants
The origin of Cycladic people It has been a major headache for archaeologists and historians over the years. Assumptions and hypotheses that were difficult to conclude, such as that its inhabitants came from small migrations from Anatolia.
In 1963 excavations began on some islands which, thanks to the findings and their study, revealed that the islands already they were inhabited around 5,000 BC and there had been previous civilizations living in that same place.
Today, the strongest and most supported hypothesis is that the inhabitants of Anatolia and the Cyclades had a parallel growth, similar in some respects but also different, which could lead to supposed contacts between them but without being able to affirm that some they were the originators of the others.
The cities of the living
The cities of the living refer to literalness, the place where the living lived and the types of houses they used.
Taking into account what was mentioned above, that it is difficult to carry out this type of research to confirm resounding data, for the time being, the finding of houses with a rectangular floor plan. These had two connected rooms and one had the shape of an apse, which has reminded researchers of the rounded Neolithic huts.
The materials used would be lava stonemortar and wooden frames.
the defensive walls
In some of the towns of the Cyclades, defensive walls were found, which they believe were built by Cretan influence and could have to do with the expulsion of the Carian pirates by the army of Minos.
These walls can be found in Chalandriani (Siros), Panormos (Naxos Island), Agios Andreas (Sifnos) and Filacopí. Of course, their design was very well thought out to be able to defend in complete advantage to the cityforcing the adversary to have to be exposed for a long time to be able to access it (due to the low number of access doors) and there were also towers, in Chalandriani, to maintain the safety of the inhabitants.
cities of the dead
The cities of the dead refers to the types of tombs and burials that took place in the Cyclades.
They say that you can tell a lot about the culture and philosophy of a civilization by the way it is buried. In this case, in the Cyclades, areas with slope in the hills or on the seashoreto bury their loved ones at low depths.
This type of burial was given a trapezoidal shape, sometimes placing stones or pebbles in the lower area, the sides were covered with flat stones and uncarved stones were placed on the cover. They had dimensions of 1.20 meters long. This was possible due to the position given to the body, lying on the right side, the knees next to the chest and the forearms towards the head.
They have discovered that there were single graves and multiple graves. In the latter case, it is believed that they were members of the same family who overlapped their graves.
In the burials of the Cyclades Islands there is an exception, the tombs of syros. In this case, the burials found have been seen to form a kind of small chambers that communicated with the outside but, due to the size of that space, did not allow a person to pass. Therefore, at the moment the most weighty hypothesis is that this communication with the external was directed towards the celebration of different funerary rites.
religious practices
Only one place of worship is known in the Cyclades, in the port of Minoa. No irrefutable findings have been found, but it is believed that it could be a outdoor place of worshipe because it is far from the necropolis, because vessels have been found in very good condition and inside splinters of bones of different animals.
The economy of the Cyclades was based on agriculture, crafts and herding but also on the sea. Not only is it about fishing, but they also ventured into navigation and trade across the sea. This is an important fact, since samples of Cycladic art have been found even in the south of France or in the Balearic Islands, which would indicate that they not only traded with their neighbors in Anatolia, but also reached other cities further afield.
These economic means also led to the development of a class difference that has been seen in the form of burials: the inclusion of some object in the tombs, the level of carving, etc.
End of the ancient Cycladic civilization
It is unknown what was the reason for the end of the ancient civilization of the Cyclades, although different options have been considered, such as the cretan civilization, pirates, migrations… But, still, there is nothing that can be completely sustained.
It is known for a fact that the Cretan (or Minoan) culture began to have a great influence on the area, not only on a commercial level (vessels imported from Crete have been found) but also in religious rites, writing and art. in itself.
In the end, these islands passed from the Cycladic culture to the minoan culture. Later, they would pass to the Mycenaean culture and it was diluted over time, until today.
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