THE WESTERN CYCLADES and CRETE: A “SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP”

Abstract

This paper examines the idea that in the Later Bronze Age a regular exchange network linked Crete to the Western Cyclades and assured them of preferential treatment. Comparison of the degree of Minoan influence on Keos, Melos and Thera with that on the other Cycladic islands confirms that the former group had a special relationship with Crete; but the evidence is insufficient to prove that they acted as secondary distribution centres for Minoan goods. The substantivist view is that in a non-monetary economy exchange was effected through reciprocity and redistribution, while early trade was always motivated by imports, not exports. But documentary evidence f o r the Near East warns against oversimplfication. For the Western Aegean, precise data are lacking, but evidence suggests that foreign trade was regulated by official agents; there was also freelance private enterprise. The Western Cyclades derived much of their prosperity from the transit dues. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the first meeting of the Oxford Aegean Seminar in February, 1981. I am most gratefuI to the organizers, Colin Macdonald and Judith Weingarten, for the invitation to inaugurate the series; to the Chairman of the session, M. R. Popham, and the other participants for their contributions to the discussion; and above all to J. L. Davis and J. F. Cherry, who provided detailed comments.

Sea Brought Onto Land: Seascape Imagery in the Cycladic Pottery From Phylakopi (Melos) in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens

“…For a recent re-evaluation of the material held in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, see Barber forthcoming. 26 Davis 1979;Schofield 1982;Broodbank 2004, 62;Davis and Gorogianni 2008;Belza 2018. Though for a critique of the 'Western String' concept, see Berg 2006.…”

A GIS Analysis of Coastal Proximity with a Prehistoric Greek Case Study

“…It reflects an outward expansion from the principal MBA settlements into the rural landscape. This pattern may have been supported by the strength of the key trading node at Ayia Irini, part of a so-called 'Western String' trading route running from the metal sources at Lavrion in Attica, through selected key Cycladic ports, terminating in the Minoan palaces of Crete (Davis 1979;Schofield 1982;Berg 2006;Belza 2018). The prosperity generated by participation in such a network during the late MBA to early LBA (Jones 2021: 113) could have afforded an expansion into the countryside on Kea.…”

Minoanisation in the Middle Bronze Age: Evaluating the Role of Cycladic Producers and Consumers

“…Most recent studies, however, have emphasised the difficulties in demonstrating political or military control over an area on the basis of archaeological evidence alone and have focused instead on elucidating the exchange networks that linked Crete to the islands and the choices made by Cycladic people in adopting socially significant or economically beneficial objects, technologies and practices from Crete ( e.g. Davis 1979; Schofield 1982; Davis 1984; Davis and Lewis 1985; Davis 1986; Davis and Cherry 1990; Whitelaw 2005; Berg 2007b; Knappett and Nikolakopoulou 2005; 2008; Cutler 2012).…”