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Early Cycladic Art and Culture

• 
  Steatopygous female figure, ca. 4500–4000 b.c.; Final Neolithic
  Cycladic
  Marble

  H. 8 5/16 in. (21.5 cm)
  Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971 (1972.118.104)

• 
  Seated harp player, ca. 2800–2700 b.c.; Early Cycladic I–II
  Cycladic; Grotta-Pelos culture
  Marble

  H. with harp 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1947 (47.100.1)

• 
  Head from the figure of a woman, ca. 2700–2500 b.c.; Early Cycladic I–II
  Cycladic; Keros-Syros culture
  Marble

  Gift of Christos G. Bastis, 1964 (64.246)

• 
  Spouted bowl, ca. 2700–2200 b.c.; Early Cycladic II
  Cycladic; Keros-Syros culture
  Marble

  H. 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm)
  Gift of Judy and Michael Steinhardt, 2001 (2001.766)

• 
  Standing female figure, ca. 2600–2400 b.c.; Early Cycladic II
  Cycladic; Keros-Syros culture
  Marble

  H. 24 3/4 in. (62.8 cm)
  Gift of Christos G. Bastis, 1968 (68.148)

• 
  Kernos (vase for multiple offerings), Early Cycladic III–Middle Cycladic I, ca. 2300–2200 b.c.
  Cycladic
  Terracotta
  

  H. 13 5/8 in. (34.6 cm)
  Purchase, The Annenberg Foundation Gift, 2004 (2004.363.1)

  Jar, Early Cycladic III–Middle Cycladic I, ca. 2300–1900 b.c.
  Cycladic
  Terracotta
  

  H. 16 3/8 in. (41.6 cm)
  Purchase, The Annenberg Foundation Gift, 2004 (2004.363.2)

  Jug, Early Cycladic III–Middle Cycladic I, ca. 2300–1900 b.c.
  Cycladic
  Terracotta
  

  H. 10 5/8 in. (27 cm)
  Purchase, The Annenberg Foundation Gift, 2004 (2004.363.3)

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The Cyclades, a group of islands in the southwestern Aegean, comprises some thirty small islands and numerous islets. The ancient Greeks called them kyklades, imagining them as a circle (kyklos) around the sacred island of Delos, the site of the holiest sanctuary to Apollo. Many of the Cycladic Islands are particularly rich in mineral resources—iron ores, copper, lead ores, gold, silver, emery, obsidian, and marble, the marble of Paros and Naxos among the finest in the world. Archaeological evidence points to sporadic Neolithic settlements on Antiparos, Melos, Mykonos, Naxos, and other Cycladic Islands at least as early as the sixth millennium B.C. These earliest settlers probably cultivated barley and wheat, and most likely fished the Aegean for tunny and other fish. They were also accomplished sculptors in stone, as attested by significant finds of marble figurines on Saliagos (near Paros and Antiparos). In the third millennium B.C., a distinctive civilization, commonly called the Early Cycladic culture (ca. 3200–2300 B.C.), emerged with important settlement sites on Keros and at Halandriani on Syros. At this time in the Early Bronze Age, metallurgy developed at a fast pace in the Mediterranean. It was especially fortuitous for the Early Cycladic culture that their islands were rich in iron ores and copper, and that they offered a favorable route across the Aegean. Inhabitants turned to fishing, shipbuilding, and exporting of their mineral resources, as trade flourished between the Cyclades, Minoan Crete, Helladic Greece, and the coast of Asia Minor.

It was especially fortuitous for the Early Cycladic culture that their islands were rich in iron ores and copper, and that they offered a favorable route across the Aegean.

Related

Timelines (2)

• Southern Europe, 2000–1000 B.C.
• The Eastern Mediterranean, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.

Primary Thematic Essays (2)

• Minoan Crete
• Prehistoric Cypriot Art and Culture

Other Thematic Essays (8)

• The Cesnola Collection at The Metropolian Museum
• Cyprus—Island of Copper
• Greek Gods and Religious Practices
• Greek Terracotta Figurines with Articulated Limbs
• List of Rulers of the Ancient Greek World
• Music in Ancient Greece
• Tanagra Figurines
• The Technique of Bronze Statuary in Ancient Greece

Maps (2)

• Europe, 8000–2000 b.c.
• World, 8000–2000 b.c.

Index Terms (14)

Art Movement/Style

• Cycladic Art
• Minoan Art
• Mycaenean Art

Artist

• Bastis Master (Greek, Active Mid 3rd Millennium)

Material and Technique

• Ceramic from the Balkan Peninsula
• Marble Sculpture in the Round
• Sculpture in the Round from the Balkan Peninsula

Object

• Musical Instruments from the Balkan Peninsula
• String Instrument
• Tall Vessel (Vase, Pitcher, or Bottle)
• Tall Vessel from Europe
• Vessel from the Balkan Peninsula

Subject Matter/Theme

• Anthropomorphic Figure
• Nude

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Early Cycladic culture can be divided into two main phases, the Grotta-Pelos (Early Cycladic I) culture (ca. 3200?–2700 B.C.), and the Keros-Syros (Early Cycladic II) culture (ca. 2700–2400/2300 B.C.). These names correspond to significant burial sites. Unfortunately, few settlements from the Early Cycladic period have been found, and much of the evidence for the culture comes from assemblages of objects, mostly marble vessels and figurines, that the islanders buried with their dead. Varying qualities and quantities of grave goods point to disparities in wealth, suggesting that some form of social ranking was emerging in the Cyclades at this time.

The majority of Cycladic marble vessels and sculptures were produced during the Grotta-Pelos and Keros-Syros periods. Early Cycladic sculpture comprises predominantly female figures that range from simple modification of the stone to developed representations of the human form, some with natural proportions and some more idealized (1972.118.104; 68.148). Many of these figures, especially those of the Spedos type, display a remarkable consistency in form and proportion that suggests they were planned with a compass. Scientific analysis has shown that the surface of the marble was painted with mineral-based pigments—azurite for blue and iron ores, or cinnabar for red. The vessels from this period—bowls (2001.766), vases, kandelas (collared vases), and bottles—display bold, simple forms that reinforce the Early Cycladic predilection for a harmony of parts and conscious preservation of proportion.

Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Department of Greek and Roman Art. "Early Cycladic Art and Culture". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ecyc/hd_ecyc.htm (October 2004) Further Reading Barber, R. L. N. The Cyclades in the Bronze Age. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1987. Fitton, J. Lesley. Cycladic Art. 2d ed. London : British Museum Press, 1999. Getz-Gentle, Pat. Early Cycladic Sculpture: An Introduction. Rev. ed. Malibu, Calif.: Getty Museum, 1994. Getz-Gentle, Pat. Sculptors of the Cyclades: Individual and Tradition in the Third Millennium B.C.. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1987. Hendrix, Elizabeth. "Painted Ladies of the Early Bronze Age." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 55 (Winter 1997–98), pp. 4–15. Hornblower, Simon, and Antony Spawforth, eds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3d ed., rev. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Lawrence, A. W. Greek Architecture. 4th ed., rev. by R. A. Tomlinson. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983. Mertens, Joan R. "Some Long Thoughts on Early Cycladic Sculpture." Metropolitan Museum Journal 33 (1998), pp. 7–22. Greek Art of the Aegean Islands. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979. Papathanasopoulos, G. Neolithic and Cycladic Civilization. Athens: Melissa, 1981. Pedley, John Griffiths. Greek Art and Archaeology. 2d ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998. Renfrew, Colin. The Emergence of Civilisation: The Cyclades and the Aegean in the Third Millennium B.C.. London: Methuen, 1972. Schallin, Ann-Louise. Islands under Influence: The Cyclades in the Late Bronze Age and the Nature of the Mycenaean Presence. Jonsered: P. Astrom, 1993. Thimme, Jürgen, ed. Art and Culture of the Cyclades: Handbook of an Ancient Civilisation. Karlsruhe: C. F. Müller, 1977. Vermeule, Emily. Greece in the Bronze Age. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972. Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions) Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. Mertens, Joan R. "Some Long Thoughts on Early Cycladic Sculpture." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 33 (1998). JSTOR | PDF Hendrix, Elizabeth, Deborah Schorsch, James H. Frantz, Dorothy H. Abramitis, Michele Marincola, and Richard E. Stone. "Appearance and Reality: Recent Studies in Conservation." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 55, no. 3 (Winter, 1997–98). JSTOR | PDFs "Director's Note" PDF "The Fonthill Ewer" PDF "Foreword" PDF "Painted Ladies of the Early Bronze Age" PDF "A Standing Virgin at The Cloisters" PDF "Statue of an Old Woman" PDF "A Tale of Two Kitties" PDF Von Bothmer, Dietrich. "A Greek and Roman Treasury." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 42, no. 1 (Summer, 1984). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Director's Note" PDF Getz-Gentle, Pat. "Risk and Repair in Early Cycladic Sculpture." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 16 (1981). JSTOR | PDF Getz-Gentle, Pat. "The Male Figure in Early Cycladic Sculpture." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 15 (1980). JSTOR | PDF