The 15 km2 large Keros is an island that lies in the so-called group of the Small Cyclades, which includes also islands like Koufonissi, Iraklia and Schinoussa. It lies between the larger island of Naxos (north) and Amorgos (south) and just under the island of Koufonissi, from which the island is best visited. From that island you can sometimes take a caique (traditional wooden boat) to Keros, where there are remains of an ancient Neolithic settlement.
Keros is a small but impressive island that rises up high from the sea with its highest point the 432 meter high mountain Keros. This is in contrast to the other, usually quite flat islands in the group of small cyclades, which are not nearly as dramatic. Keros is virtually uninhabited, except for a few monks. The island is primarily used to graze goats.
Keros was a major center in the early Cycladic culture (3000 - 2000 BC). On the west side of the island about 100 Cycladic figurines have been excavated, including the famous harpist and flutist, that are now in the Archaeological Museum of Athens. Also pottery shards were found that are more than 4000 years old. It is suspected that Keros was a place of pilgrimage especially because all figures that were found almost all had been deliberately broken and had been thrown together into a pit. On the north side of the island are the remains of a medieval city.
Also on the Dhaskalio islet which is located 100 meters west of Keros a settlement dating from the Bronze Age has been found. A building of 16 by 4 meters was exposed, making it the largest building from that period ever to be found. They excavated bronze objects such as axes and again they found broken Cycladic figurines. The bulk of the island, about 7000 m2, was built upon and thus it was the largest settlement in the Cyclades in that period. The excavations only began in 2007 and much remains to be uncovered. It includes a building from which they suspect it was a place where guests / pilgrims could stay. There were lots of marble being imported to make the buildings on the islet.