The still ongoing systematic excavation by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades under the direction of Yannos Kourayos on the now uninhabited islet of Despotiko in the middle of the Aegean Sea, has brought to light one of the most important sanctuaries of the Archaic era in the Cyclades. 

After a brief presentation of the site and its components, including the discoveries of the last excavation season of 2024, I will focus on the earliest traces of cult activity going back to the Early Iron Age and the end of the 9^th century BC. The formalization of cult over the centuries until the foundation of the temenos in the 6^th century, as reflected on the lavish religious structures and the votive dedications, and its implications for the Cycladic societies at the time, is the main issue of the presentation.

Alexandra Alexandridou is Associate Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Ioannina. She holds a DPhil and a MA from the University of Oxford, and a B.A. from the University of Athens. Her research focuses on issues of early Greek societies during the Early Iron Age and the Archaic period as reflected on their material culture, namely pottery. In her publications, she has mainly concentrated on funerary and cult practices in the Aegean during these periods. She has conducted fieldwork in Attica and the Cyclades and she studies ceramic material from various sites.