Visitors to the Athens Municipal Gallery will be fascinated
by the fragments of idols and mended pots that appear haphazardly laid out
around the space, just as the archaeologists were who first discovered the
shards in the uninhabited island of Keros, dating to the early Cycladic period
(3.200-2.100 BC).
The prevalent theory about the mystery of the shattered
idols and vessels is that they were part of a ritual observed by the ancient
inhabitants of the Cyclades, who traveled to the island for a religious
ceremony smashed the items that they used and took a fragment with them as
they left.
“Look Across: A Settlement on Keros 4.500 Years Ago” opened
at the gallery last month and runs up to the end of August. The artifacts may not be impressive to look
at, but they illustrate the importance of Keros in early Cycladic culture,
explained the director of the Ephorate of the Cycladic Antiquities, Dimitris
Athanasoulias.
The second part of the exhibition comprises finds from
Daskalio, an islet off the coast of
Keros which 4.500 years ago, was a promontory of the bigger island. Today, Daskalio is regarded as one of the
most important archaeological sites in the world, and the Athens show presents
finds, such as bronze tools and casts for making them, which illustrate early
life at the time and the civilization advances.
“The exhibition is deliberately arranged to put visitors
into the archaeologists’ shoes so that they can observe the steps of the
excavation process. How artifacts are labeled and recorded and what modern
methods and tools are employed. It also
illustrates how the permanent exhibition is organized, which is the ultimate aim
for the Keros artifacts, a project that is
expected to be completed by the middle of next year.
The excavations on Keros and Daskalio were conducted by the University of Cambridge, under the auspices of the British School in
Athens.
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