knossos minoans

Crete & Knossos

"Crete integrated map-en" by Eric Gaba

Topography

Rainfall

Geology

Crete in the Stone Age• Evidence of Hominid presence in the Palaeolithic is

debated

• Mesolithic tools of hunter gathers dating to ~10 000 BC

• Long-term research on Neolithic (7000-3500 BC)

• First groups probably arrived from Asia Minor via the islands

• Brought seeds and domestic animals

• Settlement at Knossos, then gradually expanded over the island

• Small houses with attached storage

• Stone and bone tools

• Handmade pottery

• Clay and stone figurines- religious? Magical?

Map of human migration routes to Crete, Greece and Italy in the Neolithic period.

Reconstruction of a Cretan Neolithic settlement.

Local Cretan chert and

imported Melian obsidian

artefacts. Antikythera Survey

Project.

Flint arrowhead from Met Museum.Neolithic or Late Minoan II (4th millennium B.C. or ca. 1450–1400 B.C.)

Small pisolitic bauxite axe from Met Museum.Neolithic (5th–4th millennium B.C.)

Neolithic pottery vessels from Crete. 3600– 3000 BC. Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.

Marble figurines from West Anatolia, Crete and Cyclades. Late Neolithic to Early

Bronze Age (EC I), 5300 – 2800 BC. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Ancient Historians• Homer, Thucydides, and Herodotus

– References to King Minos, Cnossos and the Minotaur

– Other sources tell of Cretans’ role in Temple of Apollo at Delphi

– Traditions related to natural features, e.g. Tomb of Zeus at Mt Jukto

• Plutarch, Diodorus and other later writerscombine and embellish these traditions

Historical Evidence – Myths?

• King Minos

• Theseus and the Minotaur

• Labyrinth of Knossos

Linear A & Linear B

Chronology – much debated

Minoan chronologyRel. Pottery Dating Rel. Architectural Dating

3650–3000 BC Early Minoan I Prepalatial2900–2300 BC EMII2300–2160 BC EMIII2160–1900 BC Middle Minoan IA1900–1800 BC MMIB Protopalatial

(Old Palace Period)1800–1700 BC MMII

1700–1640 BC MMIIIA Neopalatial(New Palace Period)1640–1600 BC MMIIIB

1600–1480 BC Late Minoan IA1480–1425 BC LMIB1425–1390 BC LMII Postpalatial

(At Knossos, Final Palace Period)

1390–1370 BC LMIIIA11370–1340 BC LMIIIA21340–1190 BC LMIIIB1190–1170 BC LMIIIC

1100 BC Subminoan

Archaeological Evidence

• Landscape

• Buildings – stone pavements, columns

• Pottery

• Parts of Frescos

• Coins

• Labels & seals

• Statues

• Etc.

Hill of Kephala

• Ruins just inland from Heraklion identified as the site of ancient Knossos and the Labyrinth from Classical descriptions.

• Trial excavations in 1878 by businessman, Minos Kalokairinos

Conservation Issues

• Conservation of original site

• Conservation of Evans’ re-construction

• Protection of other sites

• Discovery and protection of unknown sites

Interpretation of the Evidence: Function of the Knossos Site

• Evans assumed Knossos a palace based on literal reading of the myths

• Are there alternatives to Evans’ interpretation of Knossos?

– A necropolis (city of the dead) (Wunderlich, 1976)

– A storage depot

– A temple complex (Castleden, 1990)

• Evans initially thought he had found evidence of the real King Minos

• Later he changed his view: Minos was a title inherited by successive rulers

• A theocracy?• Alternative view that Crete was ruled by a female

high priestess• Or a figurehead king with a powerful priestess

– mirroring Velchanos, subordinate male god, and dominant Goddess in Minoan religion

Interpretation of the Evidence: Leadership

• Evans described a ‘pax Minoica’– No weapons in graves– No walls around cities– No battle-scene frescos

• Ancient Historians describe the Minoans as aggressive expansionists ruling a Thalassocracy– Double axe head is prominent in art– Many depictions of combat sports: e.g. boxing, archery– Seals and stone vessels show scenes with weapons and

armed men– Linear A & B include weapon characters– Some votive weapon offerings

Interpretation of the Evidence: Peaceful or Aggressive