Economic and Social Development in the Iron Age Cyclades, 1000–480 BCE

This monograph explores how economic and social development occurred in the Cycladic Islands between the Late Bronze Age and the Persian Wars. The examination sets the remarkable 8th to 6th century development into a diachronic context. A comprehensive set of archaeologically attested evidence from each island was evaluated.

Following the end of the Bronze Age, the islanders were barely able to scratch out an existence in the 12^th and 11^th centuries. Beginning in the 10^th century, evidence suggests that over the following centuries, on many, but not all, of the islands, significant economic surpluses were generated. The trade routes and social structures of the Iron Age bear little resemblance to those of the Bronze Age, suggesting something different occurred in the aftermath.

This examination traces those developments throughout the islands, noting changes in the social structure, adoption of technological innovations, and evidence of entrepreneurial enterprise that, in combination, led to the creation of economic surpluses. The creation of successful economic enterprises is but one of a series of developments during the period and needs to be examined in a broad context that considers coterminous social development.