“The Early ‘Biography’ of the Temenos on the Island of Despotiko. Paving the Route to the Consolidation of Cult in the Cyclades”

The still ongoing systematic excavation by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades under the direction of Yannos Kourayos on the now uninhabited islet of Despotiko in the middle of the Aegean Sea, has brought to light one of the most important sanctuaries of the Archaic era in the Cyclades.

After a brief presentation of the site and its components, including the discoveries of the last excavation season of 2024, I will focus on the earliest traces of cult activity going back to the Early Iron Age and the end of the 9th century BC. The formalization of cult over the centuries until the foundation of the temenos in the 6th century, as reflected on the lavish religious structures and the votive dedications, and its implications for the Cycladic societies at the time, is the main issue of the presentation.