Where Did European Civilization Begin

The Cycladic Islands are some of the most iconic destinations in the entire Mediterranean, with a longer history than almost anywhere else in that great foundational sea. On Melos, some of the first obsidian was traded internationally, way back in the early Neolithic, and before, as early as 13,000 BC, at the end of the last glacial period of the Ice Age, giving some hint of the immense antiquity of seafaring in this part of the world. Later still, Neolithic settlements are found all over the islands. And finally, by the second millennium BC, the immense cities of Philokope and Akrotiri became some of the largest and most advanced Bronze Age cities in the world. At the very centre of that windy chain of islands, lies Mykonos. With very little water being naturally available here, this rocky pile of boulders shouldn't have anywhere near as many inhabitants as it does today. Unsustainably brought in by the extravagant nightlife and wild party scene of the last century. Before the arrival of the first Bohemians in the 1950s, and the immense changes over the last 60 years or so, Mykonos was a harsh land, populated by dour fisher folk. For the ancient Greeks, the neighbouring island of Delos, uninhabited today, was the great population centre, holding many tens of thousands in its prime. Mykonos was a land of myth, where the Titans and Gods had fought their great battle for the heavens. The famed son of Zeus, Heracles, hurling rocks back and forth, in that legendary cataclysmic war. The name itself stems from one of those half-god Titans, still said to be buried here. On a windswept bay, jutting out to the north, a Neolithic settlement can still be seen today. And though radiocarbon dating in the 90s placed its abandonment way back in the 5th millennium BC, in local tradition, Photelia was the tumulus of a later age, said to have been the resting place for one of the mighty heroes of the Trojan War. Just as Homer himself is said to have been buried on nearby Eos, in ancient times, the tomb of Ajax the Lesser was a tourist destination. We can't be sure of any truth in these tales unfortunately, there being a very real incentive to lure patrons in during the ancient world, just as there is today. But one place on Mykonos, only discovered relatively recently at around the same time as Photelia in the 1990s, and bringing in a very different sort of traveller to the island, is very real evidence of the importance of Mykonos in the Mycenaean age. Based on a few references found online, and a brief sentence or two in a guidebook, I arrived in the spring of 2022. The first staff member I spoke to disappeared without a trace. Half an hour later, on entering the grounds, a second hotel worker enthusiastically agreed to take me to the tomb. She had some interest and knowledge of the place. And yet, I seem to have been the only visitor in a long, long time. As far as I'm aware, the tomb features on no itineraries of the island. There is almost no record of its existence, let alone funding, which generally goes to sites of the later classical age. Nevertheless, that Tholos tomb speaks of the immense importance of the Cyclades in the Bronze Age world. And there is much, much more. Tracing a uniquely complex history, deep into the Early Bronze Age and the Stone Age before. By the late 4th millennium BC, as the Neolithic transitioned into the Early Bronze Age with the arrival of metalworking on the islands, small fishing and agricultural communities with wide-reaching links across the sea began to develop a distinct culture of their own. Chief among them being the sites of Grotta on Naxos and Pelos on Milos. A number of interlinked communities developed, not run by a centralised system or capital city, but sharing the same customs, culture and perhaps religion. One of the most recognisable traits, of course, being the marble figurines. At first made in abstract shapes and thought to have been covered in elaborate paint, over time they took on more standardised, human-like forms. By the early 3rd millennium BC, the Cycladeans began establishing larger settlements, some of the most notable being on the islands of Syros and Naxos, as well as the important religious centre of Keros and its adjacent settlement at Daskaleo. With trade established all across the Aegean by the middle of the millennium, and art among its most valued commodities, Cycladic civilisation reached the very peak of its prosperity. Besides the famous marble figurines, some of the most well-known Cycladic products were the so-called frying pans, flat skillet-like artefacts generally made of earthenware or stone, and decorated with elaborate symbols and pictures. Their purpose remains largely a mystery, one possible explanation being an early form of mirror when filled with water, likely suffused with symbolic or religious meaning. Ideas of their purpose ranging from fertility trackers, to miniature portals used to contact gods or ancestors, to ask for aid on long or dangerous sea voyages. During this era, metal also became widespread across the islands, grave goods including bronze daggers as well as chisels, tweezers and fishhooks. Being the first culture that had advanced to such an extent in the entire Mediterranean, the vast influence of the Cycladeans on their neighbours cannot be overstated. With Cycladic idols found all over the seacoast of the Greek mainland, along with hints of actual settlement too. To the south, another group of neighbours were the emerging Minoans of Crete, one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean. By the early palatial period in the later 3rd millennium BC, Minoans were importing large quantities of Cycladic artefacts, with Minoan artisans often imitating the Cycladic art style, perhaps with some settlements or colonies too. Generally considered a peaceful civilisation, the scattered nature of the Cyclades meant that even if they had wanted to, the ancient seafarers who lived there likely did not have the means or the numbers to engage in significant hostilities against neighbours, their chief focus instead being trade and culture. However, just like almost everywhere else in the Bronze Age, the central buildings at Cycladean settlements, as well as general complex development, does suggest control by an emerging upper class, perhaps originating as merchants and sailors, having power over the distribution of goods, probably also controlling religious life too, whereas the majority of the population consisting of farmers and fishermen, may have rarely if ever left their home islands. By around 2300 BC, as turbulence and instability swept across the Aegean, the final Cycladic period began, perhaps partly as a result of the widespread appearance of bronze in the region, which made more high-quality weapons accessible than ever before. Warfare became common, perhaps for the first time, with many emerging powers not hesitating to further their strength through conquest. This threat of war resulted in the consolidation of Cycladic habitation, with many settlements being abandoned, others seeing expansion and fortification. The main threat, it seems, came from Anatolia, and many Cycladic settlements began to resemble already fortified sites found there, such as at Limantepe and Polyochne just off the coast. Their culture beginning to change too, with advances made to the east in the central Anatolian trade network. Such was the case with the small, heavily fortified sites of Kastri on Syros and Pernourmos on Naxos, both ultimately being destroyed in fiery conflagrations. Before the end of the millennium, material culture such as pottery, as well as the style of fortifications at such sites, resembled those at Limantepe on the Anatolian coast, leading scholars to label it as something new, the Kastri culture. This was the end of the golden age of Cycladic civilisation. Just as it looked like the Cyclades might become an extension of Asia Minor, another rising power made itself known. By the time societies normalised again by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, the Minoans of Crete were so powerful that they took nearly the entire Aegean under their sway. Just like their predecessors, engaged in trade all across the Aegean, the Minoans took it further, having verifiable links all across the wider Mediterranean, including the venerable powerhouse of Egypt, creating a wealthy and sophisticated society, controlled by vast so-called palatial centres, to put the later Mycenaean centres to shame, a culture then still very much emerging on the mainland. At the sprawling metropolis of Akrotiri on Santorini, the new Cretan hegemony can most obviously be seen. Elaborate multi-storey townhouses and beautiful frescoes demonstrating the wealth and power of the place, home to as many as 50,000 people, perhaps ruling over the rest of the Cyclades from around 1900 to 1530 BC. But then, all of a sudden, something terrible took place. For like the city of Pompeii to which it is often compared, Akrotiri only survives to such a remarkably preserved extent due to its total encasement in volcanic ash. According to radiocarbon evidence, sometime between around 1620 and 1530 BC, a singular event took place that would irrevocably alter the fate of not only the Cyclades, but mainland Greece and the entire Aegean world. Not just the volcano of Thera exploded, but the entire island, leaving a jagged crater still very much visible today. In one of the greatest volcanic eruptions the human race has ever seen, not just the city of Akrotiri, but innumerable other settlements were wiped out. Overnight, Minoan infrastructure in the Cyclades virtually ceased to exist, their mighty fleet that had controlled the seas to such an extent that walls were not necessary. Wiped out by vast tidal waves seen in the archaeological record on Crete at sites like Palaiokastro, trade networks and economy of the palatial centres decimated. On the mainland meanwhile, seemingly blessed by the gods, their own burgeoning navies protected by distance and the intricacies of geography, now would be the time of the previously backward chariot lords to shine. Rising power of the Mycenaeans setting forth to a collision course with the downward spiral of Minos. Though the Minoan settlement of Akrotiri would never again be rebuilt, on Melos, the city of Philokope arguably enters its most glorious phase in the second half of the second millennium BC, seen in the Cyclopean masonry and artifacts left behind. Ruled over now, it seems, by incoming elites originating on the mainland. Likewise on Siphnos, the great citadel of Agios Andreas, a match for most of the Mycenaean citadels of the Peloponnese, still impresses today with the well-built masonry of its mighty walls. Tinos and Delos too became influential centres of Mycenaean culture. The latter likely remembered in its association with the birth of the god twins Apollo and Artemis. Perhaps most important of all, however, was the island of Naxos. A world in itself, still today the beating heart of the islands and most populated land. Heading towards the mountains of the interior, at the temple of Dionysus at Eria, a figure long associated with the legend of Theseus as having become entangled with Minos' daughter after their breaking apart, an open-air Mycenaean sanctuary dating to around 1300 BC has been discovered. A place of sacrifices and revelry in the natural world. The sanctuary at Eria gives fascinating insights into the shape of Mycenaean religion, argued by many to be a direct predecessor to the later somewhat standardised pantheon of Olympian gods, Zeus, Hera and many of the others having direct predecessors that can be seen on pottery and artwork. In order to look for the best evidence of all of Mycenaean occupation in the Cyclades, however, we must look to the most inhabited corner of Naxos, just as it was in ancient times. For at Grotta, beneath the main cora of the island, overlooked by a Venetian-era citadel, a vast city of the Mycenaeans once stood. Evidenced by occasional digs over the last hundred years, whenever the opportunity arises, large Cyclopean walls having been uncovered, in addition to houses and a large amount of artefacts. Like all Mycenaean power centres, just outside town, two large cemeteries have been excavated. Mostly having collapsed in on themselves since antiquity, they nonetheless revealed evidence of a wealthy, horse-riding Mycenaean elite, also continuing to a certain extent to be uniquely Naxian too. Most fascinating of all, however, is the ruins that lie just offshore at Grotta beach, only visible at certain times of the day, in low tide and when the punishing Cycladic winds allow it. Here, like nowhere else, a glimpse into the ancient city can be given. If you want to learn more about the fascinating history and archaeology of Naxos, here's a free Substack article I wrote on the subject. Amazingly, unlike most Mycenaean centres, Grotta seems to have survived the Bronze Age collapse, continuing on into the Archaic period, though retreating inland to the higher ground above, where some archaeologists have speculated the Mycenaean citadel may have stood, though archaeology remains blocked by the much later Venetian castle. Just as the Victorians of Schliemann's age continued to do so, the inhabitants of the geometric and archaic age on Naxos worshipped their predecessors of the Age of Heroes. And during that vaunted age of expansion, in the days before the collapse, just like the Cycladic islanders before them and the Minoans too, Mycenaean seafarers seemingly made it far across the sea, to the shores of Anatolia and beyond, to found settlements and polities, evidenced by literary sources outside of the Greek world, with eerie similarities to the myth of the Trojan War. For now, we enter the realm of one of the great powers of the Near Eastern Bronze Age world, the Hittite Empire. Hello friend, Pete Kelly here, guy behind the channel. If you enjoyed this exploration to the world of prehistoric Greece, then here's six more hours I made on the entire Bronze Age Greek world. Thanks, and see you next time.