"Markiani in Amorgos is the first rural settlement of the Early Cycladic period to be excavated systematically and published comprehensively. Most of our knowledge of the Cycladic islands of Greece in the third millennium B.C. comes from the well-known Cycladic cemeteries, with their fine decorated pottery, marble vessels and striking marble figurines. Early Cycladic remains also underlie the proto-urban trading centres of the Aegean Bronze Age, such as Phylakopi on Melos or Ayia Irini on Kea. Now, for the first time, we glimpse the life of a country farming community with its rural crafts, including spinning and probably weaving and metallurgy."--Jacket.