Ios Skarkos

Location: Chora

Skarkos is an early Bronze Age settlement found in Ios. There lies the most important prehistoric archaeological site of the Cyclades and about one thousand years older than the famous Akrotiri of Santorini, the Archaeological Site of Skarkos!

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Skarkos provided archaeologists with important information and significant evidence on how societies were organized in the Cyclades during this period. It was built in a circular shape and at a high altitude so that its residents could overlook the port and the sea.

The village had a very well-organized street plan with squares and two-story buildings with stone-paved floors, fenced patios and defensive walls. Excavations discovered stamps and engraved symbols which show that people used them to declare their identity, as well as evidence of a drainage system and a cemetery.

Several findings of the excavations are hosted in the Archaeological Museum of Chora; pottery, kitchen utensils, metal, stone and bone tools are some to name but a few. Furthermore, findings showed that the settlement probably had commercial transactions with neighboring islands such as Milos and Santorini.