Reconstructions of the late Quaternary paleogeography of Greece and the Aegean show that at 18,000 years BP the northern Aegean and northern Adriatic formed large coastal plains traversed by many rivers. Broad plains also existed off the coast of Elis and the present Gulf of Korinth, and along the Anatolian coast. Many islands -- such as Kerkira, Euboea, and the northern Sporadhes -- were connected with the mainland, and most of the Cycladic islands were joined together in a Cycladic semi-peninsula. The post-glacial rise of sea level beginning ca 15,000 BP restored around 9,000 BP the coastal geography to approximately its present configuration. The island of Melos, known source of obsidian for toolmaking since at least 10,000 BP may have been discovered considerably earlier when access to the island was largely over land. -- AATA