Western Asia Minor and the adjoining islands were a dynamic meeting place for eastern and western civilizations throughout Antiquity. The region was the scene of cultural achievements of everlasting importance, and some of the most significant creations of ancient Greek literature, philosophy, art, and architecture came into being in the coastal cities of the Southeast Aegean.
This publication comprises the proceedings of the International Conference “Karia and the Dodekanese: Cultural interrelations in the Southeast Aegean ca. 500 BC– AD 500” held at the Danish Institute at Athens, 24–25th of January 2018. Its main purpose was to highlight common cultural traits and cultural interrelations in the southern part of the eastern Aegean and the cities on the adjoining Anatolian coast, and to bring together the valuable but at times scattered research carried out on many individual sites in order to paint a broader canvas of the culture of this region.
The sea did not constitute an obstacle to interaction between ancient societies and cultures. It was rather an effec- tive means of communication for the exchange of goods, sculptural styles, architectural techniques, ideas, and people among the cities and settlements of this part of the ancient world, which has been the focus of Danish archaeological research for more than a century.