The Cyclades Islands - Greece
The Cyclades are an archipelago in the Aegean Sea south-east of the mainland of Greece. They are part of the vast number of islands. This name, meaning "circular" in Greek is used to refer to a group of islands around a sacred island of Delos - their exact number is 220, and the main ones are (in alphabetical order): Amorgos, Anafi, Ándros, Antiparos, Delos, Ios, Kéa, Kimolos, Kynthos, Mílos, Mykonos, Náxos, Páros, Pholegandros, Serifos, Sifnos, Sikinos, Síros, Tínos, and Santorini (Thira).
The city of Ermoupolis, is the main city - and administrative centre of the group; it is situated on Síros.
The economy of those islands is based almost entirely on agriculture - wine, wheat, tobacco, olive oil.
The climate is mostly mild and (surprisingly) dry, but with the exception of Naxos the soil is not very fertile. Lower temperatures are recorded in higher elevations and generally there is no winter at those isles. As for transportation, the Cyclades is the only administrative region in Greece that is not linked with a state-built highway. All of the traffic roads on the island complex are secondary or provincial; but the distances are also not very big, so this is not such a shortage.
The seminal for history Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Cycladic culture is famous for its flat female idols chiseled out of the islands' pure white marble centuries a lot earlier than the great Middle Bronze Age. The so-called Minoan culture arose in Crete, to the south: these figures have been plundered from burials and tombs to feed a thriving Cycladic antiquities black market since the beginning of 20th century.
An extraordinary Neolithic culture with eclectic elements - both from Anatolia and mainland Greece arose in the region of western Aegean before 4000 BC, based mainly on emmer wheat and wild barley, goats and sheep, pigs, and tuna. Discovered sites include Saliagos and Kephala (on the Isle of Keos) with signs of copper-working and civilization. Each of the small Cycladic islands could be home to no more than a few thousand people. However, late Cycladic boat remnants prove that fifty oarsmen were used. When the very well organized palace-culture of Crete arose, the islands faded into oblivion, with the exception of Delos, which managed to retain its archaic reputation as a sanctuary through the period of Classical Greek civilization. The initial archaeological excavations in 1880s were superseded by systematic work by the British School. Sites were plundered and a fast trade in forgeries arose. The medium for many of these Cycladic Figurines has thus been completely or partially destroyed; and so unfortunately their meaning may never be completely solved. Another interesting and mysterious objects are the Cycladic Frying Pans. More precise archaeology has revealed the broad outlines of a farming and seafaring culture that had migrated from Asia Minor at 5000 BC. Early Cycladic culture evolved in three phases, between ca 3300 - 2000 BC, when it was increasingly swamped in the rising influence of Minoan Crete. The culture of mainland Greece contemporary with Cycladic culture is called Helladic.
Recently the Cyclades islands have become extremely popular with tourists, and as a result there have arisen problems with erosion, pollution, and water shortages.
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