Perspectives on an Early Bronze Age Island Centre: An Analysis of Pottery from Daskaleio-Kavos (Keros) in the Cyclades

Island central places occupy a prominent position in archaeological, anthropological and historical debate, but the number of early examples of such centres that have to date been investigated in detail remains small. One such central place in the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC) Cycladic islands of the Aegean was the site of Daskaleio-Kavos on Keros, although the interpretation of this site's functions is controversial. Fieldwork at the site in 1987 generated a large sample of pottery that allows the site's local and inter-regional connections to be explored in detail for the first time. The results of ceramic analysis indicate that Daskaleio-Kavos operated as the active maritime centre of an intensive network of inter-island exchange.