### L1352 trade around the ancient Cyclades > For all their drawbacks as farmland, the Cyclades had other assets. They possessed one priceless commodity for Stone Age hunters: obsidian, the finest of all toolmaking stones, a rarity on the mainland. Thanks to high-technology sourcing of trace elements in artifacts and natural outcrops, we know that obsidian in mainland settlements came from two locations on Milos, which also provided another valuable commodity for people living off wild plant foods or cereal crops: volcanic rocks for grinding stones. (In later times, other valuable commodities came from the Cyclades. Marble passed to the mainland from Naxos and Paros. Copper, lead, and silver came from several islands, as did small amounts of gold.) Almost certainly, the first exploration of the Cyclades was purely exploitative and revolved around toolmaking stone. - [[Beyond the Blue Horizon by Brian Fagan#L1352 trade around the ancient Cyclades|View in Vault]]