Cyclades

Statistics
Capital:	Ermoupolis
Area:	2,572 km²
Elevation:	Lowest: Aegean Sea Highest: Mount Zeus
Inhabitants:	95,083(1991)
Population density:	36.97/km²(1991)
ISO 3166-2:	GR-82
FIPS code:	GR49
Car designation:	EM (Ermoupolis)
Code for the municipalities:	??xx
Municipalities:	19
Independent communes:	11
Area/distance code:	11-30-228x0 (00)30-228x0
Postal code	84x xx
Name of inhabitants:	Cycladean sing. -s pl.
2-letter abbreviation/HASC:	CY
Map

The Cyclades, from the Greek Κυκλάδες, ("circular," modern Greek Kikládhes) form an island group south-east of the mainland of Greece. They are a part of the vast number of islands which constitute the Greek archipelago in the Aegean Sea. The name was originally used to indicate those islands that formed a rough circle around the sacred island of Delos (map).

The Cyclades are comprised of around 220 islands, with the major ones being Amorgos, Anafi, Ándros, Antiparos, Delos, Ios, Kéa, Kimolos, Kynthos, Mílos, Mykonos, Náxos, Páros, Pholegandros, Serifos, Sifnos, Sikinos, Síros, Tínos and Santorini (Thira).

Ermoupolis, on Síros, is the chief town and administrative center of the group. The islands are peaks of a submerged mountainous terrain, with the exception of two volcanic islands, Melos and Santorini (Thera). The climate is generally dry and mild, but with the exception of Naxos the soil is not very fertile: agricultural produce includes wine, fruit, wheat, olive oil, and tobacco.

The significant Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Cycladic culture is best known for its schematic flat female idols carved out of the islands' pure white marble centuries before the great Middle Bronze Age ("Minoan") culture arose in Crete, to the south: these figures have been looted from burials to satisfy a thriving Cycladic antiquities market since the early 20th century.

A distinctive Neolithic culture almalgating Anatolian and mainland Greek elements arose in the western Aegean before 4000 BCE, based on emmer wheat and wild-type barley, sheep and goats, pigs, and tuna that were apparently speared from small boats (Rutter). Excavated sites include Saliagos and Kephala (on Keos) with signs of copper-working, Each of the small Cycladic islands could support no more than a few thousand people, though Late Cycladic boat models show that fifty oarsmen could be assembled from the scattered communities (Rutter), and when the highly organized palace-culture of Crete arose, the islands faded into insignificance, with the exception of Delos, which retained its archaic reputation as a sanctuary through the period of Classical Greek civilization.

The first archaeological excavations of the 1880s were followed by systematic work by the British School at Athens and by Christos Tsountas, who investigated burial sites on several islands in 1898-99 and coined the term "Cycladic civilization" Interest lagged, then picked up in the mid-20th century, as collectors competed for the modern-looking figures that seemed so similar to sculpture by Jean Arp or Constantin Brancusi. Sites were looted and a brisk trade in forgeries arose, but more accurate archaeology revealed the broad outlines of a farming and seafaring culture that had immigrated from Asia Minor ca 5000 BCE. Early Cycladic culture evolved in three phases, between ca 3300 - 2000 BCE, when it was increasingly swamped in the rising influence of Minoan Crete. The culture of mainland Greece contemporary with Cycladic culture is termed Helladic.

In recent decades the Cyclades islands have become extremely popular with European and other tourists, and as a result there have been problems with erosion, pollution, and water shortages.

Climate

Its climate is almost entirely Mediterranean. Cooler temperatures are in higher elevations and mainly do not receive wintry weather.

Area codes

22810 - Syros, including Kynthos, Serifos and Syros islands

22820 - Andros

22830 - Tinos

22840 - Paros and Sifnos islands

22850 - Amorgos and Naxos islands

22860 - Folegandros, Ios, Santorini and Sikinos islands

22870 - Kimolos and Milos

22880 - Kea Island

22890 - Mykonos

Municipalities

Municipality	YPES code	Seat	Postal code	Area code ((0)30-)
Amorgos	-	Amorgos	840 08	22850-2
Andros	-	Andros	845 00	22820-2
Ano Syros	-	Ano Syros	841 00	22810-8
Drymalia	-	Chalkio	843 02	22850
Ermoupoli	-	Ermoupoli	841 00	22810-2
Exomvourga	-	Xinara Naxou	842 00	22850-5
Idrousa	-	Gavrio	845 01	22820-7
Ios	-	Ios	840 01	22860-9
Kea	-	Kea	840 02	22880-2
Korthio	-	Ormos Korthiou	845 02	22820-6
Kynthos	-	Kynthos	840 06	22810-3
Milos	-	Milos	848 00	22870-2
Mykonos	-	Mykonos	846 00	22890-2
Naxos	-	Naxos	843 00	22850-2
Paros	-	Paros	844 00	22840-2
Poseidona	-	Episkopi Posidonias	841 00	22810-4
Serifos	-	Serifos	840 02	22810-5
Sifnos	-	Sifnos	840 03	22840-3
Thira	-	Thira	847 00	22860-2
Tinos	-	Tinos	842 00	22830-2

Communities

Community	YPES code	Seat	Postal code	Area code ((0)30-)
Anafi	-	Anafi	840 09	22860-6
Antiparos	-	Antiparos	840 07	22840-6
Donoussa	-	Donoussa	843 00	22850-5
Folegandros	-	Folegandros	840 11	22860
Heraklia	-	Heraklia	843 00	22870-7
Kimolos	-	Kimolos	840 04	22870-5
Koufonissa	-	Koufonissa	843 00	22870-7
Oia	-	Oia	847 02	22860-7
Panormos	-	Panormos	842 01	22830-3
Schinoussa	-	Schinoussa	843 00	22870-7
Sykinos	-	Sykinos	840 10	22860-5

• See also: Communities of the Cyclades

Further reading

• J. A. MacGillivray and R. L. N. Barber, editors, The Prehistoric Cyclades (Edinburgh) 1984.
• R. L. N. Barber, The Cyclades in the Bronze Age (Iowa City) 1987.

External links

• Cyclades guide (http://www.geocities.com/ikarosstudios/cyclades/index.htm)
• Jeremy B. Rutter, "The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean"  (http://projectsx.dartmouth.edu/classics/history/bronze_age/index.html): especially Lessons 2 and 4: chronology, history, bibliographyda:Kykladerne

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