The Ministry of Culture is proceeding with the establishment of the Cycladic Culture Study Centre as an annex to the Museum of Cycladic Culture, in Naxos. Its construction and the exhibition is scheduled to be completed in 2026. The Cycladic Culture Study Centre is expected to comprehensively address the matter of the origin and authenticity of Cycladic artefacts, something which concerns the international academic community and Museums around the world. It is expected to achieve international recognition and acceptance.
The Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, stated that ‘the extremely large number of artefacts of the Cycladic Culture, deriving from the systematic archaeological research of the Ephorates of Antiquities of the Ministry of Culture over the last two centuries, have full documentation of their origin. These objects are kept in the local museums of the Cycladic islands, in the National Archaeological Museum and – mainly – in the Museum of Cycladic Culture of Naxos. The finds constitute the comparative examples for the collection of data, which will in turn contribute to the conduct of more reliable analyses. The data that will result from the technological analyses will be used as a basis for comparison with that of corresponding analyses of artefacts of the Cycladic Culture, but which lack an identity of origin. These are to be found in Museums and Collections: they have either been confiscated in Greece and abroad, or have been repatriated in recent years. This process will substantially contribute to the certification and documentation or not of their authenticity, while it will enrich the data on their exact origin. The Centre will be established immediately and its first results, such as the digital database, are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2024.
The Centre will include:
- A central analytical laboratory for the study and conservation of antiquities.
- A library specializing on Cycladic Culture.
- A digital database, in which the artefacts of the Cycladic Culture will be registered with a full record of their identity: Museum or Collection they belong to, origin, archaeological documentation – all enriched by the results of the individual physicochemical analyses carried out in the laboratories of the Centre or elsewhere.
The Ministry of Culture has allocated – in a first phase – funding of 400,000 euros from National Resources to equip the Centre with the necessary electronic and digital infrastructure of the laboratory. The Centre will employ archaeologists, antiquities conservators, chemists, computer scientists and persons skilled in any other specialty that is deemed necessary. The full development of the operation of its laboratory infrastructure is planned to be completed by 2026.