Cycladic culture (also known as Cycladic civilisation) was a Bronze Age culture (c. 3100–c. 1000 BC) found throughout the islands of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea. In chronological terms, it is a relative dating system for artifacts which is roughly contemporary to Helladic chronology (mainland Greece) and Minoan chronology (Crete) during the same period of time.

The significant Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Cycladic culture is best known for its schematic flat female (and, rarely, male) figurines of uncertain purpose carved out of the islands' pure white marble. It was roughly contemporaneous with the Middle Bronze Age ("Minoan") culture that arose in Crete, to the south. A distinctive Neolithic culture amalgamating Anatolian and mainland Greek elements arose in the western Aegean in the third millennium BC based on emmer and wild-type barley, sheep and goats, pigs, and tuna that were apparently speared from small boats (Rutter).^{[citation needed]} Excavated sites include Chalandriani, Phylakopi, Skarkos, Saliagos, Amorgos, Naxos and Kephala (on Kea), which showed signs of copper-working.

Early Cycladic culture evolved in three phases, between c. 3100 and 2300 BC. Excavations at Knossos on Crete reveal an influence of Cycladic civilization upon Knossos in the period 3400 to 2000 BC as evidenced from pottery finds at Knossos. Kea is the location of a Bronze Age settlement at the site now called Ayia Irini, which reached its height in the Late Minoan and Early Mycenaean eras (1600–1400 BC). The Mycenaean town of Naxos (around 1300 BC) covered the area from today's city to the islet of "Palatia." Part of it was discovered under the square in front of the Orthodox Cathedral in Chora, where the archaeological site of Grotta is located today. Naxos has been continuously inhabited since at least the fourth millennium BC. Study of the island's toponyms asserts that Naxos has never been abandoned.

Cycladic culture in the Middle Bronze age went through some geographical shifts, as archaeologists have found artifacts and communities that point towards an expansion of Cycladic culture's influence, including on the mainland and Crete. Walls that appear to date to this period show expansion from older Cycladic walls in many areas. One of the main pieces of evidence we have for this period of Cycladic history is pottery. Likewise, graves serve as a primary source of information for this period. Transitions in pottery styles have helped historians pin down a more accurate date range for the Middle Cycladic period.

Each of the small Cycladic islands could support no more than a few thousand people, though Late Cycladic boat models show that crews of twenty-five oarsmen could be assembled from the scattered communities. When the highly organized palace-culture of Crete arose, the islands became relatively less significant. This occurred when Cycladic culture was increasingly submerged in the rising influence of Minoan Crete.^{[citation needed]} Exceptions to this were Kea, Naxos and Delos; the last of these retained its archaic reputation as a sanctuary through the period of Classical Greek civilization (see Delian League).

The chronology of Cycladic civilization is divided into three major sequences: Early, Middle and Late Cycladic. The early period, beginning c. 3100 BC, segued into the archaeologically murkier Middle Cycladic c. 2000 BC. By the end of the Late Cycladic sequence (c. 1000 BC), there was essential convergence between the Cycladic and Minoan civilizations.^{[citation needed]}

There is some disagreement between the dating systems used for Cycladic civilization, one "cultural" and one "chronological". Attempts to link them lead to varying combinations. A prominent scholarly attempt to do this, as proposed by Oliver Dickinson, can be found below:

* Indicates this space is left intentionally blank due to lack of scholarly data.