The Mycenaean culture of the east Aegean islands should not be considered in relation to that of the Greek Mainland, as has generally been done up until now, but rather in terms of the East Aegean — West Anatolian Interface (fig 1), an area which forms an entity between the Mycenaean islands of the central Aegean and the Anatolian hinterland with Troy at its northern extremity and Rhodes at its southern one.