Knossos

1. Crete & Knossos

3. "Crete integrated map-en" by Eric Gaba

4. Topography
Rainfall
Geology

7. 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?

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

9. Reconstruction of a Cretan Neolithic settlement.

10. Local Cretan chert and
imported Melian obsidian
artefacts. Antikythera Survey
Project.

11. 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.)

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

13. Marble figurines from West Anatolia, Crete and Cyclades. Late Neolithic to Early
Bronze Age (EC I), 5300 – 2800 BC. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

14. 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 writers
combine and embellish these traditions

15. Historical Evidence – Myths?
• King Minos
• Theseus and the Minotaur
• Labyrinth of Knossos

16. Linear A & Linear B

17. Chronology – much debated
Minoan chronology
Rel. Pottery Dating Rel. Architectural Dating
3650–3000 BC Early Minoan I Prepalatial
2900–2300 BC EMII
2300–2160 BC EMIII
2160–1900 BC Middle Minoan IA
1900–1800 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 IA
1480–1425 BC LMIB
1425–1390 BC LMII Postpalatial
(At Knossos, Final Palace
Period)
1390–1370 BC LMIIIA1
1370–1340 BC LMIIIA2
1340–1190 BC LMIIIB
1190–1170 BC LMIIIC
1100 BC Subminoan

18. Archaeological Evidence
• Landscape
• Buildings – stone pavements, columns
• Pottery
• Parts of Frescos
• Coins
• Labels & seals
• Statues
• Etc.

19. 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

36. Conservation Issues
• Conservation of original site
• Conservation of Evans’ re-construction
• Protection of other sites
• Discovery and protection of unknown sites

37. 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)

38. • 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

39. • 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