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  3. Online public talk “The sanctuary at Keros in the Early Bronze Age: from centre of congregation to centre of power”

Online public talk “The sanctuary at Keros in the Early Bronze Age: from centre of congregation to centre of power”

The Programme “Studies in Hellenic Culture” of the Open University of Cyprus (OUC) and Aegeus – Society for Aegean Prehistory cordially invite you to an online archaeological lecture on the excavations of the University of Cambridge at the prehistoric sanctuary of Keros. The online public talk entitled “The sanctuary at Keros in the Early Bronze Age:  from centre of congregation to centre of power” will be held on the 7th of May 2020 at 20:00 (Cyprus local time, 18:00 UK time), and will be broadcasted live via the OUC eLearning Platform at the web link https://tinyurl.com/y8y4wskw.

Dr. Michael Boyd is the keynote speaker on behalf of the research team led by Emeritus Professor Lord Colin Renfrew, with Irini Legaki, Evi Margariti, George Gavala, Ioanna Moutafi, Ayla Krijnen, Myrto Georgakopoulou, Myrsini Gouma, James Herbst and Nathan Meyer.

In the third millennium BCE Aegean, widely dispersed communities manifested connectivity through perennial gatherings at centres of congregation, such as Keros or Knossos. New excavations at Keros in the central Cyclades offer unparalleled opportunities to investigate the material bases of such connections, and the networks of material, information, people and skills, which were formed and reformed through developing processes of communication. The settlement at Dhaskalio in Keros shows all the hallmarks of incipient urbanisation, the first such site in the central Aegean, which amidst the flow of goods and people through the site, was quickly established as the premier metalworking centre of the Cyclades.The Keros excavations of 2016-2018 by the University of Cambridge’s team have shone a rare light on a world in transition, a time when the flow and rapidity of information exchange brought about a first information revolution. The evidence from Keros foreshadows the urbanisation about to occur in the region in the following centuries, a first sign of permanent change at all levels of society.

The Keros projects are based at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.

Full abstract:

In the third millennium BCE Aegean, widely dispersed communities manifested connectivity through perennial gatherings at centres of congregation such as Keros or Knossos. New excavations at Keros in the central Cyclades offer unparalleled opportunities to investigate the material bases of such connections, and the networks of material, information, people and skills which were formed and reformed through developing processes of communication.

Keros, around 2750 BCE, became a focal point for such gatherings. Visitors brought with them choice materials, including the ‘Cycladic figurine’ and the ‘sauceboat’, for consumption in deposition rituals in two ‘special deposits’. Around a century later came an intense period of construction and monumentalisation on a prominent promontory immediately west of the special deposits. This construction project, involving unprecedented investment of labour and showing clear signs of planning, created a new type of settlement, unrelated to the farming villages of earlier periods. The settlement at Dhaskalio shows all the hallmarks of incipient urbanisation, the first such site in the central Aegean.

Amidst the flow of goods and people through the site, metal stands out: Dhaskalio was quickly established as the premier metalworking centre of the Cyclades. Metalworking was ubiquitous in the settlement, where besides copper and lead possible evidence for working of gold and silver is now being assessed. Metalworking may have been one of the first activities performed on Dhaskalio, even before the construction of the settlement; the gathering of the raw materials and skills needed was facilitated by the networks already in operation for the perennial ritual deposits. The objects made there, especially the dagger, expressed a new notion of identity through maritime networks centred on Keros.

The Keros excavations of 2016-2018 have shone a rare light on a world in transition, a time when the flow and rapidity of information exchange brought about a first information revolution. The evidence from Keros foreshadows the urbanisation about to occur in the region in the following centuries, a first sign of permanent change at all levels of society.