The Bronze Age in Paradise: The Early Societies of the Cyclades (Early Cycladic Culture)

If you've been to any major archaeological or even art museum in Europe or the United States, then you've probably seen what seem to be rather strikingly minimalist marble figurines and small statues of various shapes and sizes that come from the island group known as the Cyclades. The question that has been puzzling many archaeologists for quite some time is who were the people who created these works art and how did they live? In this video, we'll examine the mysterious Early Cycladic cultures of the Bronze Age Aegean world.
Related Videos:
The World of Neolithic Greece - The First Seafarers, Traders and Farmers of Prehistoric Greece
• The World of Neolithic...
Sources and Suggested Reading:
The Oxford Handbook of the Aegean Bronze Age - Ed. Eric Cline
Art and Archaeology of the Aegean Bronze Age: A History - Jean-Claude Poursat and Carl Knappet
The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age - Cynthia W. Shelmerdine
Ancient Greece: From Prehistory to Hellenistic Times - Thomas R. Martin
National Archaeology Museum (Athens) - Ed. Maria Lagogianni-Georgakarakos
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#bronzeage #cyclades #greece

[@jakeanderson8156]

This is great content. The Mueseum of Cycladic Art in Athens is small but incredibly interesting musuem featuring artifacts from the Cyclades islands. It was one of my favorite museums on my 2008 trip to Greece.

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! That was one museum I wasn't able to visit on my latest trip, though would have liked to. Thanks for watching and more on the way!

[@ajl8198]

Thank you next time I have a chance to visit Greece again I will definitly visit that museum. There is so much I didnt have time to see I really want to go back soon : )

[@philippcrain]

Just went there! I can warmly recommend it, especially because it isn't as infinitely large as other museums can be there What I think I liked about the museum most was the little section on how hellenic peoples manufactured and shaped clay and metals etc - copper, gold and iron. Apparently casting was quite rare, and people used other techniques to shape the metal, such as cutting away at a thin, gold sheet, or simply making a metallic mold around a clay scultpure. Overall a fun museum

[@user-ii9hs5ue1h]

I'm so glad you went there in 2008. Show-off.

[@hermescarraro3393]

Heh. I remember the first time I studied these art pieces... I always thought it was interesting how artstyles almost feel "cyclical", as in, the earliest artwork were very abstract and stylised, but as time went on various cultures strove to make art increasongly more realistic, only to then decide to move "backward" after being exposes by artworks such as these. It's really cool

[@cynthiaahern9081]

Good observation 😊

[@HistorywithCy]

Yeah apparently Picasso was a big fan of these and admired them for their seeming simplicity. Hope all is well in Italy and thanks for watching!

[@dp6003]

Cyclades are the remains of the body of land known as Atlantis

[@hairyjohnson2597]

Ahh my days made. A new video from one of the best youtubers out there.

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, I'm honored and hope you enjoy the video! Thanks for watching!

[@Strattios]

I love learning about lesser known cultures. Keep up the good work!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank you, appreciate it and more on the way! Thanks for watching!

[@JonnoPlays]

History with Cy is the best! Always a fun and fascinating journey into the history of us all. Great work as always!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks man, appreciate it! Yes, I agree and feel like everybody's history is our shared story. Thanks for watching!

[@kennyhagan5781]

My best guess is that the earliest bronze age was the period when the individuals who inspired the classical myths were walking the earth and doing remarkable things....guys like Herakles and Hyperion. Their stories got embellished and misremembered over the centuries until they were part of a religious hierarchy of gods. I also believe that this can be said of the events depicted in The Mahabharrata, and that is all that remains to us from the earliest bronze age in both regions. A shadowy glimpse of a long forgotten age.... That's why I dig history in all of it's disciplines, it answers the questions that it can.

[@wizardmongol4868]

an intersting idea but ive come to it and discarded it, the reason is that aside it being never a truly "complete process" the whole stories of the gods etc were much deeper and actually did take a stronger stand when it came to where those stories came from (its wasn't misremembered as much as glorification and bard-telling etc and they often did refer to the sources of where they came from) my guess is that the people couldve and wouldve known about alot of caveats that we do not which would include this especially when you refer to say some indian religious texts and how they refer to the local environmental practices (i remember a story of a gods dreadlocks and the local tree deforestion/flooding thing) etc

[@Wasserkaktus]

Unlikely. Greek Myths were indeed probably all based on Bronze Age religious beliefs and even what could be prehistoric/historic figures and events, but those events and "figures" were likely done by a group of people, and their deeds were likely much smaller than what the Myths claim. There's likely no way the Mycenaeans could rally that many Achaean Forces to go and siege Troy for ten whole years like the Iliad said they did, for example.

[@giorgosthoma849]

Very Good video. once again you tell history as it its without all the natiolastic tendencies sarounding the Greek and Cypriot education system brought us. thank you for telling such stories

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks so much for the feedback, really appreciate it and glad that you found the video useful. I do my best to stick to the facts and findings that the consensus of archaeologists seem to agree on. Thanks for watching and more on the way!

[@BiggestCorvid]

History with Cy always teaches me more about things to which textbooks dedicated a single cryptic line. Thanks for the great work, I'm so glad people are subbing to the patreon to support the channel, I can't afford yt premium and patreon😢

[@user-ii9hs5ue1h]

Make 5 gmails and get a month free on each one. Also, don't complain about textbooks if you - which you do - think for yourself.

[@Quklasa]

I absolutely love your channel. I never really comment but I watch many episodes several times to truly absorb the information, you make history interesting and vibrant. Thank you so much for your dedication to such excellent content!

[@user-vw1vf5cw7d]

As technology progressed and traveling and trading by sea became easier, their distinctive cultural features became less prominent and they were gradually assimilated to the general Hellenic culture.

[@MotDoiAnLac258]

Great video!! Extremely informative and interesting

[@JustGrowingUp84]

Excellent presentation!

[@RelivingHistory1]

Soon to be 200k subs... and you deserve many more. Great video, as always!

[@torceridaho]

Love these videos. Thanks so much

[@HistorywithCy]

Glad you like them and thanks for watching!

[@jtmcgee]

Always learn from and enjoy your videos. Thanks

[@HistorywithCy]

My pleasure and thanks for watching!

[@geraldmeehan8942]

Thank you Cy. Great content keep up the good work!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks man, appreciate you tuning in for these and glad you're enjoying the content!

[@J_Z913]

Great video! Thank you!

[@HistorywithCy]

My pleasure, thanks for watching!

[@WanaxTV]

Great video as always!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks buddy, appreciate it!

[@user-ou4ib5kw8u]

Love your content! You should check the reports on thearcheological finds at the island of Keros

[@hessex1899]

HWC posts a new video. I click like before I even start watching. :)

[@LeoTheI]

Underrated period of history.

[@moutsatsosa]

You've got the only chanel that I've seen so far that has up to date historical and archeological data.Thank you for that.

[@johnguill6129]

I like the pictures of pottery and figurines you include. I though it was notable that some figurines had their hands tucked under their arms, and others had hands on their chest. I wonder if carving fingers into figurines was a later art form. Even the earliest figurines were well made, but sometimes details like fingers are hard to make.

[@Numba003]

Thank you for another excellent video, as always! I've learned a bit about bronze age Greek and Minoan cultures, but I hadn't really considered the peoples of the many islands of the Aegean. God be with you out there everybody. ✝️ :)

[@CB-vg1wq]

I have heard the Cycladic cultures disappeared because of a Volcano eruption on Santorini, but I am not certain if this is known for certain. Also, the Mycenaean culture, more war like on the main land, overcame the Minoans, but again, I am not certain.

[@Wasserkaktus]

That was the Minoans, not the Cycladic Culture which well preceded the Minoans.

[@torceridaho]

: Κυκλάδες, romanized: Kykládes, IPA- Kee-kla-des - emphasis on second syllable

[@roykay4709]

My own speculation is that the pyroclastic explosion of Thera lead to a sharp shocked decline in Minoan culture and the relatively peaceful times. There would be depopulation and scarcity, and armed conflict would be more frequent.. The basis of the Cyclaeidc culture would end rather abruptly. Those areas that could prosper from possession of agricultural lands and the ability to enforce control would ultimately center on palaces, proto-city-states, on the Minoan model, noting that these were within defensive walls.

[@JunoDiovonaDemihof]

Thank you for your work. It would be very informative and logical to show the geography of the Greek islands during the "Bronze Age". There was much more land there, the Black Sea was awake with a flow into the Aegean, there was no Dardanelles 10,000 ago and , etc. It is important to mention the fact that those societies were greatly influenced by meteors, asteroids and falling "gods"... lol

[@BenSHammonds]

very good, of much interest. also expect that the migration of early farmers from Anatolia made their way to the islands as well as the mainland in their movements from east to west. the early cultures there were, in time, thru association of other cultures that rose in the region, became more evolved into similar ways and peoples as the outside peoples of the region. Thru contact and trade a culture can come to mirror other cultures they have known.

[@LuisAldamiz]

Good, we need something positive in our troubled present. Let's go back into pre-oligarchic, pre-state paradise, even if it's only with the mind and memory. Only those who know their history are able to repeat the best parts of it.

[@HistorywithCy]

Agreed. Thanks for watching!

[@SchoolforHackers]

Harappa, here I come.

[@john.premose]

I am always amazed at how recent so many cultures are, considering how long humans have existed.

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@john.premose - That's a very good observation: more than 95% of hour history (mostly prehistory) as Homo sapiens is pre-Neolithic, and even already in the Neolithic/Chalcolithic (or even later in some areas) there were many cultures that were rather the way of "primitive communism" than of warlordist kingdoms. That's why we are uneasy or even utterly unhappy with how things have been going "as of late", in the last few thousand years.

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@SchoolforHackers - Some argue that Harappan civilization (IVC) was already transitional to some sort of kingdom: even if it was clearly egalitarian, there was a "palace" or "temple" separate district, not dissimilar in concept to the acropolises of Dimini (Pelasgo-Tyrsenians) or Vucedol (proto-Greco-Armenians) in Europe. I'm torn about that issue (IVC) and can't judge it clearly.

[@iliasmastoris529]

The lack of archaeological evidence of Neolithic farmers on the islands before 5300BC is probably because most of the land they once occupied is now under water. The waterline of the Med rose early in Holocene. The Med was smaller and there is likely to have been a land bridge linking Turkey and Greece.

[@Wasserkaktus]

They were likely fishermen and pastoralists, not farmers.

[@casparcoaster1936]

Hard not to see Gobectec columns when I see those Cyclidic lucky charms or Easter Island watchers, the crossed arm motif was a bigger deal than folsom points ever were

[@Number1Irishlad]

Omygosh soooo close to rhodes, i hope that to be relatively soon!

[@Overlord095]

Do Bulgaria next please

[@Danetto]

is this the sea people video ive been waiting for? xd

[@HistorywithCy]

No, that'll hopefully be a longer, epic one hopefully out early next year. In the meantime will touch up on the subject in the video on Egypt D20 that should be out soon. Thanks for watching!

[@russchadwell]

They became the fabled Sea People.

[@SchoolforHackers]

Not implausible.

[@pattheplanter]

5:22 Aren't those obsidian cores for flaking off blades, rather than blades themselves?

[@kkupsky6321]

Why didn’t someone tell me? Make sure you got that notification bell. Sorry mate nearly missed it.

[@kaarlimakela3413]

Hey you! 😊

[@HistorywithCy]

Hey hey! Thanks for always tuning into these, really appreciate the support!

[@user-ii9hs5ue1h]

Yes Cy!!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank you!

[@LeftyScaevola]

And then, circa 1600 BC, BIG Bada Boom!

[@gabrielfrund9497]

In Naxus Arch. Museeum i have seen it

[@benefactor4309]

Podcast on Nabateans.

[@TheRedneckPreppy]

Great video as usual Cy. Your channel continues to kick more butt than a three-legged man.

[@HistorywithCy]

Haha three-legged man? Hmm, I think I have a photo of an artifact of three-legged man somewhere. I'll try to put it in a video sometime. Thanks again for watching!

[@halflifeger4179]

Lovely video, though I have to take issue with your pronunciation 😂 the “c“ is actually a k, ky-klah-dehs

[@HistorywithCy]

Yes, you are right, I need to stop using the Latinized form of Greek names (k becoming c). Thanks for the feedback and for watching!

[@euca99]

😊

[@nathanaelpereira5207]

E-V13 lineage maybe originated here

[@SkyFly19853]

Yeah... That reminds me around 2020... 😏 Btw, does anybody know the name of ancient tribe that founded Ancient Egypt ?

[@cal2127]

could they be the pellagasians?

[@henkstersmacro-world]

👍👍👍

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks man!

[@awedelen1]

👋🏼

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank you!

[@rickfox2872]

Key-Kla-Des

[@beepboop204]

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank you!

[@SatSingh-mm4gg]

5000-6000 years ago the sea level was much lower and Aegean more navigable

[@mathewdallaway]

The Cyclades (/ˈsɪklədiːz/;

[@magako_v.3]

Funny marble statues

[@Newhopes123]

Are the Palestinians Minoan in origin?

[@qwertyuiopgarth]

Minoan Cultural Imperialism! All the newest and coolest ideas were coming from Crete....

[@dp6003]

Cyclades Are the remains of the body of land known as Atlantis

[@yodasmomisondrugs7959]

11:35 Mmmmm...Yummy! I bet those baby dolphins tasted delicious!☺🤔😳

[@freefall9832]

The Minoans enslaved them. Small island communities were always at risk of being taken into slavery.

[@54032Zepol]

Life was idyllic on the cycladic islands and then the Muslims came! 🥁

[@johnflesner8086]

When in doubt, its religious 🤭

[@thomasechols8834]

Minoan culture absorbed them like most others in the general area.