Comparison and Connections in the Archaeology of Small Islands in Greece

This paper reviews current trends in research on small islands in Greece and argues for the value of comparative approaches to their study. A number of projects have taken place on small islands in Greece in recent years, and a natural next step is to view these case studies side by side, in order to make comparisons between archipelagoes. Such comparative analyses represent an important opportunity to develop a broader archaeology of small islands as types of Mediterranean microecologies that also have global relevance. Here, I outline such a framework based on examples from Greece. In particular, spatial analyses of island size, marginality, and connectivity in relation to local and regional networks suggest a robust (though not determinative) role for biogeographic approaches in the analysis and interpretation of small-island histories. At the same time, we can identify certain types of small-island behaviors that extend well beyond settlement and occupation—including food production, seasonal use, mineral extraction, maritime movement, military action, and ritual activity—across several archipelagoes. We might expect similar patterns elsewhere in the Mediterranean (and beyond).