Archaeological site of Saliagos Paros
The archaeological site of Saliagos is found in the western part between Paros and Antiparos.
The small island is located about five hundred meters from the Antiparos village and has a length of two hundred meters and a width of fifty. A patch of emerged land that allowed to trace a very precise identity of the various hegemonies of the past, also noting that in the Neolithic period the sea was six meters lower and that Saliagos was actually a peninsula that connected the other two islands making the territory is one.
The area was first occupied by the Arcadians by the commander Parios to whom the Paros island then owes its name, and then passed under the Ionian, Persian, Macedonian, Roman and finally Byzantine domination. Then followed the Venetians in turn expelled by the Persians and last but not least by the Turks. Finally with the war of independence, Paros and its satellite islands were readmitted to the Greek land.
The sign of all these populations are found in the archaeological site of Saliagos where settlements of the Neolithic era have been found ranging from 4300 to 3900 BC.
It was first discovered in 1961 by Nikolaos Zafeiropoulos superintendent of ancient heritage and later by British archaeologists John Evans and Colin Renfrew in 1964. The remains date back to the end of the fifth millennium BC and have revealed an urban complex of rectangular-shaped houses with stone foundations and surrounded by a wall, an avant-garde technique as it only took hold in the Bronze Age. The Saliagos island is rich in obsidian, a volcanic glass that derives from the rapid cooling of the lava with which the inhabitants created tools for the work. In addition to skilled smiths, the population was dedicated to fishing, breeding, the production of ceramics and the cultivation of cereals.
Among the classic Greek figurines, one way to express oneself artistically in ancient Greece stands out "the fat lady of Saliagos", the oldest in marble found to date in all the Cyclades Islands and visible at the Archaeological Museum of Paros in Parikia.
Unfortunately, not many artifacts have been found regarding the Civilization of Saliagos and it is still not well understood the uses, customs and religious orientation of the population. The only certainty is its existence which has allowed us to understand something more of the past, giving it a unique archaeological site as well as national heritage.
Definitely an experience for history lovers and for the eternal curious, a dip in the past to find out more about this beautiful archipelago of the Cyclades Islands.