The Skarkos archaeological site, we find it above a hill in the middle of the western sideof the island a few kilometers from the port in one of the Ios wildestareas.
The oldest and most importantprehistoric settlement of all the Cyclades Islands and the wholeAegean, even existed a thousand years before the famous Akrotiri inSantorini, has allowed scholars to understand with significantevidence how societies were organized in those times.
Dating back to the earlyBronze Age (mid-3rd millennium BC) it is in the middle of one of themost sheltered natural harbors of the Cycladic Archipelago, betweenthe most fertile plains and the sea. A crossroads of the maincommercial routes with Mainland Greece, Crete, Asia Minor andconsidered the boats of the time equipped only with limited rangeoars, they meant that Skarkos was an excellent landing place to stopand rest, stock up on supplies and obviously trade. The Ios inhabitants were mainly dedicated to the export of stone obsidian toolsfrom the nearby Milos island of which it was and is rich which wasthen transformed.
Skarkos with a circularshape still well preserved, spread over terraces that proceed alongthe natural relief of the hill covering an area of 1.1 hectares. Fromhere its inhabitants had a perfect view of the port and the sea. Aperfectly organized village that could accommodate from 200 to 300people, with an effective road network with streets one to two meterswide and also public spaces, squares, two storey buildings with arectangular shape with enclosed courtyards and stone paved atticswhere the the ground floor was dedicated to the kitchen while thefirst floor was used as a living room, storage for goods and ceramicsas well as sometimes used as a laboratory. The different sizes of thehouses varied according to the social position of the family thatowned them. And still high walls of three or four meters, a perfectdrainage system and a cemetery from the late Bronze Age. A citadelwhere nothing was missing and which gave great prosperity to theisland.
The excavations of the Skarkosarchaeological site started in 1984 until 1977 by the XXIEphorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of the HellenicMinistry of Culture responsible for the Cyclades Islands. Manyartifacts have come to light such as marble statuettes, ceramics,obsidian tools, animal bones, stone and marble vases, metal toolswhich confirm the fact of the rich trade with the nearby islands andthe mainland. Some curious stamps and engraved symbols that were usedby the inhabitants to declare their identity as well as clay seals onceramics for the agricultural production control. All thesebeautiful finds can be found at the Chora Archaeological Museum.
The settlement wasdefinitively abandoned in 2300 BC it is said due to a very strongearthquake and never repopulated again, this is the reason for itsperfect state of maintenance.
Skarkos can be visitedsince 2007 after a long conservation and preservation interventionwhich in 2008 also allowed it to receive an award from the EuropeanUnion for the excellent work done on such an important culturalheritage. It has two entrances, one of which is also accessible forwheelchair users.
An activity to beincluded among the things to see in Ios where you can dive into thepast as a sort of time travel and admire the greatness of pastpeoples who have allowed us to get to where we are today.