Dec. 31, 2006 — New excavations by a Greek and British archaeology team on the Greek island of Keros have unearthed a cache of prehistoric statues — all deliberately broken — that could help solve a longstanding riddle of art history.

Unlike its larger, postcard-perfect neighbors in the Aegean Sea, Keros is a rocky dump home to a single goatherd. But the barren inlet was once of major importance to the mysterious Cycladic people, a sophisticated pre-Greek civilization with no written language that flourished 4,500 years ago and produced strikingly modern-looking artwork.

A few miles from the resorts of Mykonos and Santorini, Keros is a repository of art from the seafaring culture whose flat-faced marble statues inspired the work of 20th century masters Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore.

British excavation leader Colin Renfrew now believes Keros was a hugely important religious site where the smashed artwork was ceremoniously deposited. "What we do have clearly is what must be recognized as the earliest regional ritual center in the Aegean," he said.

There is no evidence the Cycladic culture worshipped the Greek gods of Mount Olympus, who first appeared in the 2nd millennium B.C., and their beliefs are shrouded in mystery as no sanctuaries dating to before 2000 B.C. have been excavated.

However, some experts think the islanders' religion was probably built round a fertility cult tied to the mother-goddess of Neolithic times, whose worship survived in various forms until Christian times in the Greco-Roman world.

The Cycladic statues, many depicting pregnant women, may have played a part in such beliefs, and their deliberate destruction would have been a ritual act.