Daskalio Island, located off the coast of Keros, which is one of the Cyclades in the Aegean and was once part of Keros before the sea level rose. It turned out that this was not an island with a hill, but a giant pyramid created in the same period as the very first pyramids of Egypt.
The monumental structures that have been discovered date back to earlier than the Minoan period and are located on a remote, uninhabited pyramid-shaped island.
Archaeologists have been excavating here since 2015 and have discovered many artifacts, including unusual sculptures.
The pyrmidal structure, hidden under a layer of earth and from the side similar to an ordinary earthen island with a hill, dates back to at least 4600 years and was built of marble, delivered from the nearby Aegean islands in tiny wooden ships.
“This is by far the largest prehistoric maritime transport operation ever discovered anywhere in the world,” said Dr. Julian Whitright, a leading marine archaeologist at the University of Southampton.
"This clearly shows how important and integral to their culture was navigation for these early Bronze Age Aegean peoples."
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A huge quantity of white marble weighing up to 10,000 tons was brought from the island of Naxos, located six and a half miles away. Archaeologists estimate that this would have required over 3,500 trips with 24 sailors rowing for five hours in open water.
The ruined pyramid of Daskalio is about the same age as Stonehenge, the lost city of Eridu in Iraq, and the earliest pyramids in Egypt.
The pyramid island is believed to have been a religious site that attracted pilgrims, as archaeologists found small sculptures that may have been left as offerings. Many knives and tools have been found elsewhere on the island.
Michael Boyd of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge, who is co-director of the study, said: “Our study transformed our understanding of Early Bronze Age Cycladic culture and suggests that these very early Greeks were organizationally, technically and politically much more advanced than previously thought” …
The study is being conducted by a multinational team with the support of the Greek government and the British School of Athens. The large-scale project is funded by several international institutions.