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7000–3200 BCE. It was a stepping stone

Part corridor, part resource hub; linking Anatolia, mainland Greece and Crete

At 10,000, until about 5500 years BCE. Coast lines were much lower
Islands were larger, or connected by land bridges, or more shallow crossings. As ice melted, sea levels rises, drowning camps and coastal plains.

The biggest rise was around 8300 to 8200 BCE. After that the ocean continued to rise more steadily
It wasn’t a giant flood like Doggerland, or the Black Sea.

The climate changed
1) End of Pleistocene was warmer, and wetter. Allowing forests to expand, and coastlines stabalized. Marine eco-systems became rich and productive.
2) The 8.2 ka event (6200 BCE) was a sudden cold/dry shock across the Mediterranean. It likely disrupted early farming communities.
3) Mid Holocene stabilization By 6000 to 4000 BCE it was relatively warm, and stable. Ideal for early agriculture and sea faring

It was not permanent people at first. People came mainly for the resources, especially Obsidian from Melos
The razor sharp stone was used for blades and tool making. That became traded widely.

These people were likely Hunter Gatherers transitioning to farming. Already capable of open sea crossings.

It had permanent settlers after around 5000 BCE
Small villages appear like: Naxos, Andros, Antiparos, and Amorgos. Where they were able to farm wheat and barley; heard animals like sheep and goats; and fish.

Melos has evidence of early repeated visists by 7000 BCE; and there are coastal and fishing sites: Franchthi Cave, Cyclops Cavee, and Maroulas (Kythnos)

Early sea faring, fishing and shellfish gathering, seasonal or semi-permanent camps
Neolithic villages were scattered across the Cyclades after 5000 BCE. They were small, agricultural, and interconnected.

Later the area became well known for cultures, marble figurines, trade networks, and proto urban settlments
They used dugout, reed; and, possible plant boats by later neoltihic stages.

By the bronze age we know they used long narrow rowing vessels for trade
Diet and wants/needs shifted.

During the neolithic, the increasingly connected maritime networks were likely small-scale village societies
Storytelling traditions, and music were apart of life.

The Cyclades were a maritime crossroad between Anatolia, Mainland Greece, Crete. As a resource hub (especially Obsidian), and cultural bridge. Where ideas crops and technologies moved through.

The Cyclade islands sit right in the middle of the Aegean, and in the neolithic. Check it out.

Biliography: Turney, Chris & Brown, Heidi. (2007). Catastrophic early Holocene sea level rise, human migration and the Neolithic transition in Europe. qsr. 26. 2036-. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2007.07.003.

Mylona D. Aquatic animal resources in Prehistoric Aegean, Greece. J Biol Res (Thessalon). 2014 May 13;21(1):2. doi: 10.1186/2241-5793-21-2. PMID: 25984485; PMCID: PMC4376368.

Horejs B, Milić B, Ostmann F, Thanheiser U, Weninger B, Galik A. The Aegean in the Early 7th Millennium BC: Maritime Networks and Colonization. J World Prehist. 2015;28:289-330. doi: 10.1007/s10963-015-9090-8. Epub 2015 Dec 10. PMID: 27453633; PMCID: PMC4939275.