Minoan Culture, Religion & Decline | Greek Archaeology Episode 2

This week we explore the Minoans further, especially the nature of evidence and the questionable reconstructions of Sir Arthur Evans in the 19th & 20th century. I touch on Minoan religion and the famous snake goddesses, as well as the development and layout of palaces & some possible theories as to their use and organisation. Towards the end we also touch on the Thera eruption on Santorini, which severely affected the Minoans' ability to spread beyond Crete.

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Sources & Bibliography:

Shelmerdine, C. (ed) 2008: The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, see chapters 7, 10, 12

Poursat, J, C. 2022: Minoan Architecture in the First Palace Period. In Poursat & Knappett, C. 2022: The Art and Archaeology of the Aegean Bronze Age A History , pp. 87 - 94. Translated by Knappett. Cambridge University Press

Legarra Herrero, B. 2016: Primary State Formation Processes on Bronze Age Crete: A Social Approach to Change in Early Complex Societies. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 1-19.

Schoep, I. 2002. The state of the Minoan palaces or the Minoan palace-state in Driessen, J. Schoep, I. Laffineur, R Monuments of Minos. Rethinking the Minoan Palaces. Proceedings of the International Workshop "Crete of the Hundred Palaces?" held at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, 14-15 December 2001 pp. 15-33. Liège: Université de Liège. historie de l'art et archéologie de la Gréce antique.

T. Whitelaw. 2014: Recognising polities in prehistoric Crete. In M. Relaki and Y. Papadatos (eds) From the Foundation to the legacy of Minoan Society. Sheffield Studies in Aegean Archaeology. Oxford: Oxbow Books.

I. Schoep, P. Tomkins and J. Driessen. 2011: The urbanisation of prehistoric Crete: settlement perspectives on Minoan state formation. In (eds.), Back to the Beginning: Reassessing Social, Economic and Political Complexity in the Early and Middle Bronze Age on Crete. Oxford: Oxbow Books.

Callender, G. 1987: Antiquity: The Minoans. Sydney: Shakespeare Head Press.

Castleden, R. 2002: Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete. Taylor & Francis.

The exact date of the Thera Eruption is contested, but some recent papers assessing the evidence are:

Lespez, L., Lescure, S., Saulnier-Copard, S. et al. 2021: Discovery of a tsunami deposit from the Bronze Age Santorini eruption at Malia (Crete): impact, chronology, extension. Sci Rep 11, 15487: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159...

Mavromati, A. 2021: Wood as a structural element in the houses of Akrotiri on Thera, Greece. The Anthracological Evidence. Quaternary International, Volumes 593–594, Pages 71-84: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

Ehrlich, Y., Regev, L. & Boaretto, E. 2021: Discovery of annual growth in a modern olive branch based on carbon isotopes and implications for the Bronze Age volcanic eruption of Santorini. Sci Rep 11, 704: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159...

#minoancivilization #theraeruption #mycenaean #ancientarchitecture #ancienthistory #ancientgreece #minoanreligion #bronzeage #bronzeagecollapse

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