Despotiko, a font of ancient treasures

Archaeologist Yannos Kourayos has been digging on Despotiko since 1997. Yet even as the pioneer of excavation efforts on the uninhabited islet southwest of Antiparos in the Cyclades, he is surprised at the wealth of treasures the site has yielded over the years. In addition to this year’s discoveries, his tally includes two complete kouros statues and 11 heads. There is another such statue broken into three parts and 110 fragments of limbs, torsos and other body parts. The finds further encompass 40 statue bases with inscriptions and more than 500 incised sherds, indicative of the worship of Apollo. And this is not to mention the discovery of 32 structures, including those on the neighboring islet of Tsimintiri, which, during archaic times was connected to Despotiko by a strip of land. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Kourayos tells Kathimerini. “Every year, I find myself believing that we’re approaching the end of the excavation, only to have the new findings challenge that assumption. The excavation of Despotiko appears to be unfathomable, continuously providing fresh insights into its topography and history from the early Iron Age.”