Keros
| Keros (Κέρος) | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Waters | Mediterranean Sea | |
| Archipelago | Cyclades | |
| Geographical location | 36 ° 53 '24 " N , 25 ° 39' 0" E | |
|
||
| length | 6.7 km | |
| width | 3.6 km | |
| surface | 15.042 km² | |
| Highest elevation | Papas (also Keros) 432 m |
|
| Residents | uninhabited | |
The uninhabited Greek island of Keros ( Greek Κέρος [ ˈkʲɛrɔs ] ( f. Sg. )) Is the second largest island of the Small Cyclades and the largest of the Koufonisia . The archaeological finds and the name Keros-Syros culture indicate the importance of the Aegean island during the early Bronze Age.
location
Keros is surrounded by some smaller islands about 10 km southeast of Naxos and 11 km northwest of Amorgos . Between Naxos and Keros there are still Pano Koufonisi , Kato Koufonisi and Glaronisi . Schinoussa is about 6.5 km to the west.
history
Around 2700 to 2200 BC One of the most important centers of the early period of the Bronze Age Cycladic culture , Kavos Daskaleio , was located in the far west of Keros and on the small neighboring island of Daskalio (Δασκαλειό) , which is only about 80 m away today . The tiny rocky island of Daskalio was probably connected to Keros by a land bridge during the Early Cycladic Era . During the Kastri culture , due to its more favorable location for defense, a change from Kavos to today's Daskalio island took place. The complete manufacturing process of obsidian blades , the marble processing and the copper smelting have been proven in Kavos Daskaleio . An estimated 100-200 people lived in the place. It is considered certain that Kavos Daskaleio belonged to one of the villages specializing in sea trade, as more people lived here than the island could supply.
As Keria (Κερία), the island was a member of the Attic League during the Persian Wars .
In the Middle Ages the island served as a pirate hideout. In the 19th century, Keros was owned by the Panagia Chozoviotissa monastery (Παναγία Χοζοβιώτισσα) on Amorgos and served as pasture for some shepherd families. At that time, the island was described as a rough ridge with only a few areas suitable for agriculture. Keros is now uninhabited and is used by farmers seasonally as pasture. On the north side near Konakia is the small church Panagitsa (Ξωκκλήσια Παναγίτσα).
Archaeological finds
Keros first came into the interest of archeology when the historian Ulrich Köhler published the discovery of two Cycladic idols in a grave with their exact location on the island in 1884 . It is the keros harpist , one of the most beautiful and famous works of the Cycladic culture and one of the oldest depictions of a musician. The seated male figure with legs open holds a harp in his right hand . The harpist is 22.5 cm high and made of marble. The aulos player , possibly designed by the same artist, and two female canonical idols were found in the same grave . The figures are dated between 2700 and 2300 BC. Dated. Both figures are exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens .
In the 1950s and early 1960s, the island reappeared in the interest of archeology when private collections and museums in Europe, the USA, Australia and Japan offered numerous illegal objects of the Cycladic culture on the international market for antiquities. The objects known as the Treasure of Keros or Keros Hort (Θησαυρός της Κέρου, Keros Hoard) came from a series of robbery excavations on the west side of the island in the so-called Kavos field. In order to counteract the scandalous effects, a systematic archaeological research of Kavos was decided in 1963 under the direction of the archaeologist Christos Doumas with the participation of the then doctoral student Colin Renfrew . They deliberately found broken statues from the early period between 2700 and 2300 BC. From the Spedo type as well as pottery and obsidian blades. When the up to one meter high statues were found by a British-Greek archaeological team, they were jumbled together, like a pile of bleached bones. Originally the idols were painted. It is believed to be the result of a rite; it was the earliest religious place of worship in the Aegean. Further excavations in the looted area (special deposit) in 1966 and 1967 were able to secure an extraordinarily large number of artifacts , architectural traces could not be proven. Further excavations were carried out in 1987/88 by Colin Renfrew and Christos Doumas and in 2006-2008 Renfrew was able to organize another large excavation in Kavos and on the offshore island of Daskalio .
81 fragments are on display in the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens . The majority of the Cycladic idols known today, more than 1400, come from Keros.
natural reserve
Keros is part of the Natura 2000 area GR4220013 Mikres Kyklades: Irakleia, Schinoussa, Koufonisia, Keros, Antikeri kai Thalassia Zoni (Μικρές Κυκλάδες: από Κέρο μέχρι Ηράκλεια, Σχοινούσσα, Κουφονήσια, Κέρος, Αντικέρι και θαλάσσια ζώνη).
Trivia
The idols of Keros inspired the work of Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore .
literature
- Cyprian Broodbank: An Island Archeology of the Early Cyclades . Cambridge University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-521-52844-5 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
- Mariya Ivanova: Fortified settlements in the Balkans, in the Aegean Sea and in Western Anatolia, approx. 5000–2000 BC Chr. Waxmann Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-8309-1937-7 ( limited preview in Google book search).
- Colin Renfrew, Christos Doumas, Lila Marangou, Giorgos Gavelas: Dhaskalio Kavos, Keros: The Investigations of 1987-88. In: NJ Brodie, J. Doole, G. Gavalas, C. Renfrew (Eds.): Horizon - a colloquium on the prehistory of the Cyclades . Cambridge, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 2008, ISBN 978-1-902937-36-6 , pp. 107-113.
- Panayiota Sotorakopoulou: Dhaskalio Kavos, Keros: The pottery from the Investigations of the 1960s. In: NJ Brodie, J. Doole, G. Gavalas, C. Renfrew (Eds.): Horizon - a colloquium on the prehistory of the Cyclades . McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge 2008, ISBN 978-1-902937-36-6 , pp. 115-120.
- Colin Renfrew et al: Keros - Dhaskelion and Kavos, Early Cycladic Stronghold and Ritual Center. Preliminary Report of the 2006 and 2007 Excavation Seasons. In: The Annual of the British School at Athens . 102, 2007, pp. 103-136 (1st part of the preliminary reports on the Cambridge Keros Project)
- Colin Renfrew et al: The Early Cycladic Settlement at Dhaskalio, Keros - Preliminary Report of the 2008 Excavation Season. In: The Annual of the British School at Athens. 104, 2009, pp. 27–47 (2nd part of the preliminary reports on the Cambridge Keros Project)
Web links
- General information about Keros , Greek
- Keros (The Mystic Island) , English
- The Thera Foundation , English
- Natura 2000 area 4220013 , Greek
Individual evidence
- ^ Ulrich Köhler: Prehistoric of the Greek islands. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Athenian Department. 9, 1884, pp. 156-162, plate 5.
- ↑ Harpist from Keros, page of the Greek Ministry of Culture, Greek [1]
- ↑ Museum of Cycladic Art, The Keros Hoard, English Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Smashed statues may solve riddle of Greek island , English
