The foundation of Thasos

Thasos must be one of the best-known, archaeologically, of all Greek colonies, so it is something of a paradox that the material evidence for its foundation and earliest days is far from satisfactory. We have no early graves, and, until 1960, there was no evidence from any very early settlement either. True, in more than one sanctuary it is assumed that the finds go back (in general terms) to the beginning of the life of the Parian colony, but none of this material is demonstrably earlier than c. 650, a time which is very generally thought to be about a generation later than the foundation of the colony. So even quite recently it was possible to write ‘It seems likely that it was founded from Paros by about 680 B.C. … The earliest pottery which can be dated is Corinthian and Rhodian, none of it much earlier than the mid seventh century.’