Files
Polyaigos_2026_741063.pdf
Open Access - Adobe PDF
- 24.47 MB
Details
- Authors
- Abstract
- This article presents an archaeological survey of the island of Polyaigos, undertaken in 2022 by the Small Cycladic Islands Project (SCIP). Since 2019, SCIP has surveyed 87 uninhabited islands in the southern Aegean, most of which are well under 1 km 2 in size. The larger island of Polyaigos (18 km 2) was included in the project in order to investigate the importance of island size (among other things) in long-term population and land-use dynamics. SCIP used a layered approach to survey across different spatial scales: island-wide lidar analysis and ground verification, sample-based intensive fieldwalking, site-based gridded collection, drone survey, architectural documentation, and archaeological ethnography. Pottery finds from Polyaigos range from the Neolithic period to the very recent past, and more than 9,000 chipped stone artifacts were collected and studied. A combination of lidar-based and pedestrian architectural documentation revealed patterns of intensive cultivation and landscape modification. Particularly noteworthy was the discovery of a large, previously undocumented Bronze Age site at a place called Benardou; architecture and surface artifacts indicate that this was a major settlement throughout the Bronze Age. This article discusses the survey results and their significance for Aegean archaeology; it also reflects on how patterns of small-island occupation and use in the Cyclades are relevant to other archipelagic contexts. 1 1 We are grateful to all members of the SCIP team who contributed to fieldwork on Polyaigos; besides the authors, these include contributed in numerous ways as the archaeologist of the ephorate responsible for Kimolos. Katerina Giannadaki and Marilena Villa participated as museum guards, and Vangelis Cheimonas transported the team between Kimolos and Polyaigos. The Afentakeio Foundation of Kimolos provided housing during the field season , and we are grateful to mayor Konstantinos Ventouris and the community of Kimo-los for their kind hospitality.
- Affiliations
