Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 1.1. The Late Antique and Early Medieval Cyclades as case studies 1.2. Methodological approaches, aims and methods 1.3. The historiographical questions and the contribution of Landscape Archaeology in Late Antique and the Byzantine period 1.4. A history of research 2. Natural environment 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Geography and geomorphology 3. The social and economic history of the Cyclades 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Aegean Sea: connectivity and integration 3.3. Late Antique or the Late Roman Era (early 4th – middle 7th c.) 3.4. The Byzantine Early Middle Ages (late 7th – early 10th c.) 3.5. The Middle Byzantine Period (middle 10th – early 13th c.) 3.6. Summary and conclusions 4. The settlement pattern and material culture of the island of Paros 4.1. The Parian landscape 4.2. The region of Parikia: a diachronic Aegean coastal urban centre 4.3. The region of Naoussa: an Aegean coastal pottery production centre 4.4. North central Paros 4.5. Eastern coast of Paros: an extensive productive zone 4.6. Southwest Paros 4.7. Conclusions 5. The settlement pattern and material culture of the island of Naxos 5.1. The Naxian landscape 5.2. The region of Chora: a diachronic Aegean coastal urban centre 5.3. Western lowland Naxos 5.4. Mountainous central Naxos 5.5. Southeast Naxos 5.6. North Naxos 5.7. Conclusions 6. Paros and Naxos in context 6.1. A comparative view of the settled landscapes of Paros and Naxos during Late Antiquity 6.2. Paros and Naxos in the transition to the Byzantine Early Middle Ages: two different stories 6.3. Naxos, Paros and the Cyclades from the Middle 9th to the 12th century 7. General concluding remarks References