The Museum Of Cycladic Art

Subsistence, Rituals and Cults in “Cycladic Society 5,000 Years Ago” 

- Athina D. Pantazatou

Cycladic civilization flourished on the islands of the central Aegean during the Early Bronze Age (3,2002,000 BC). The Museum of Cycladic Art maintains one of the largest and most complete collections of Cycladic antiquities in the world!

The Museum of Cycladic Art (MCA) holds representative samples of marble figurines and vases, bronze weapons and tools, leaden figurines and silver vessels, pottery from all the phases of the Early Cycladic period and symbolic objects decorated with incised motifs reminiscent of the sea, the stars, and female fertility. But what do all these items actually convey?

Ever wondered what was Cycladic flora and fauna like 5,000 years ago? Or what were the nuclei of Cycladic society? These are the questions an exhibition called “Cycladic Society 5,000 Years Ago” attempts to answer. The exhibition opened in December, 2016 to celebrate the MCA’s 30th anniversary and will run until March, 2017. Visitors will also learn about islander existence, their forms of entertainment, the role of music/dance/ritual, and so much more through this fascinating exhibit.

Artifacts include 191 items of the MCA’s own collection, 98 items from the Cycladic Regional Department of the General Directorate of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage (with artifacts from the Museums of Naxos, Apeiranthos, Syros, and Paros), as well as several items from the National Archaeological Museum and the Museum of Paul and Alexandra Kanellopoulos, in Athens.