Cycladic

The first of the Aegean peoples to construct fortifications were the Early Cycladic residents of the Cyclades. At Khalandriani on the island of Syros, residents built a double fortification wall measuring approximately 70 meters long and strengthened it with five horseshoe-shaped towers. Similar structures were also uncovered on the island of Naxos (see chapter 6) (Vermeule 1972, 32-33).

Houses were generally made of local stones, with roofs of branches and clay supported by wooden posts. Domestic structures had no consistent layout in the Early Bronze Age—houses were rectangular, circular, or any irregular shape in between, as dictated by the lay of the land. This changed considerably in the Middle Bronze Age, possibly due to influences from Crete and Greece. A house at Aghia Irini on the island of Kea shows a typical Cycladic organization, consisting of a long series of rooms, each accessible to the rest through a series of doors running down the center of the structure. Staircases on the sides of some rooms give evidence of upper stories.

9.1 Plan of Temple at Aghia Irini, Kea (Courtesy of Stephanie Budin) 312

A somewhat similar organization appears at a temple in the same city, dating from the fifteenth century b. c.e. and continuing in use through the Archaic Age (see Image 9.1). This is a long, narrow, rectangular structure with an entrance hall to the southeast, giving access to two more long, rectangular rooms placed one after the other, with doors running down the center of the structure. In all respects, it resembles a house. However, this temple is slightly more elaborate than a house in organization: From the room beyond the entrance hall extend two smaller rooms, which were possibly for storage. The room at the far end of the structure also opened onto an additional room, large enough for either storage or ritual. In short, the temple followed typical domestic architecture, but with more rooms for storage and cult activity (Preziosi and Hitchcock 1999, 136).