Editing Cyclades (section)

==History==
{{main|History of the Cyclades}}
[[File:Harp player, Cycladic civilization - Greece.JPG|thumb|left|upright|''Harp player'', example of Cycladic art, at the National Archeological Museum, Athens]]

The significant Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age [[Cycladic culture]] is best known for its schematic, flat sculptures carved out of the islands' pure white marble centuries before the great Middle [[Bronze Age]] [[Minoan civilization]] 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 amalgamating Anatolian and mainland Greek elements arose in the western Aegean before 4000 BCE, based on [[emmer]] and wild-type barley, sheep and goats, pigs, and tuna that were apparently speared from small boats (Rutter). Excavated sites include [[Chalandriani]], [[Phylakopi]], [[Skarkos]], [[Saliagos]] and Kephala (on [[Kea (island)|Kea]]) with signs of copperworking, 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]] throughout antiquity and until the emergence of Christianity.

===Archaeology===
[[File:Ancient Greek theatre in Delos 01.jpg|thumb|left|Ancient theatre, [[Delos]]]]

The first archaeological excavations of the 1880s, undertaken by antiquaries such as [[James Theodore Bent|Theodore Bent]] at [[Antiparos]] in early 1884,<ref>Theodore Bent, ‘Researches among the Cyclades’. 1884, ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', Vol. 5, 42-59.</ref> were followed by systematic work by the [[British School at Athens]] and by [[Christos Tsountas]], who investigated burial sites on several islands in 1898–1899 and coined the term "Cycladic civilization". Interest lagged, and 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 Brâncuși]]. Sites were looted and a brisk trade in forgeries arose. The context for many of these [[Cycladic art|Cycladic figurines]] has been mostly destroyed and their meaning may never be completely understood.

Another intriguing and mysterious object is that of the Cycladic [[frying pans]]. More accurate [[archaeology]] has revealed the broad outlines of a farming and seafaring culture that had emigrated from [[Anatolia]] {{Circa|5000 BCE}}. Early Cycladic culture evolved in three phases, between c.&nbsp;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 known as the [[Helladic period]].

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