The complex of Ano and Kato Koufonisi is today a rapidly growing tourist destination in the Cyclades. Despite the fact that its archaeological past is not easily visible, it remains a strong presence for the interested holiday-maker.
Excavations on the two islands began in the late 1960s, in parallel with research on the opposite island of Keros. Rescue excavations prompted by intensive construction activity on Ano Koufonissi have made it possible to reconstruct aspects of its archaeological topography. The few architectural remains, along with the tombs and important movable finds of the Early Cycladic period (3200-2000 BC), attest to a dynamic and prosperous community that maintained contacts with nearby Keros and communicated, through exchanges, with the rest of the Cyclades and Crete, as well as with the islands of the northeastern Aegean.
The Late Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC) as well as the beginnings of historical times have been highlighted in rescue excavations on the two islands. On the southwestern side of Ano Koufonissi, very close to the sea, a settlement of the Roman and early Byzantine periods developed, attesting to the continuity of settlement and human activity on the Koufonisia from antiquity into the Early Byzantine period.
