Summary:This paper examines the idea that in the Later Bronze Age a regular exchange network linked Crete to the Western Cyclades and assured them of preferential treatment. Comparison of the degree of Minoan influence on Keos, Melos and Thera with that on the other Cycladic islands confirms that the former group had a special relationship with Crete; but the evidence is insufficient to prove that they acted as secondary distribution centres for Minoan goods. the substantivist view is that in a non‐monetary economy exchange was effected through reciprocity and redistribution, while early trade was always motivated by imports, not exports. But documentary evidence for the Near East warns against oversimplification. For the Western Aegean, precise data are lacking, but evidence suggests that foreign trade was regulated by official agents; there was also freelance private enterprise. the Western Cyclades derived much of their prosperity from the transit due