It is without a doubt that the island of Keros and its archaeological finds has been a mystery for Aegean and Mediterranean archaeology: why were the iconic Cycladic marble figurines smashed in different places and then transported through the Aegean Sea and deposited at Keros?

Why was the settlement at Dhaskalio, the tip of the Keros island, now a separate islet, but part of Keros in antiquity, constructed with material brought all the way from the island of Naxos? Why was this strip of land selected for the biggest and most impressive site thus far excavated in the Aegean Early Bronze Age?

Excavation and research led by Prof. Colin Renfrew and Dr Michael Boyd from the University of Cambridge and Asst Prof Evi Margaritis of CyI’s STARC were focused on these questions during the excavation season in September, with a team of 60 people consisting of researchers from all over the world. Part of the research group were 17 young archaeologists from Australia, the UK, Canada and the USA who made up the Cambridge-Cyprus Institute Field School. As part of the field school they received training in up to the minute field techniques, scientific methods, and digital recording, and also engaged in a rigorous series of seminars ranging widely in approaches and techniques. CyI’s STARC was also involved in the project with M. Faka and D. Abate, who recorded the walls of the site with 3D scanning.

Broken Figurines found in situ at Keros


The field school with the rest of the team at the island of Dhaskalio