Minoan Civilization
“Civilization sails prettily like a child 's rubber balloon until it hits a sharp object; then it is likely to collapse like the balloon”- Austin O’Malley. The first major European civilization during the Bronze Age came from the Minoans. The Minoan Civilization evolved in many influential ways during its reign of power, which started from approximately 3000 B.C. and into 1000 B.C.
In order to understand how the Minoan Civilization evolved, it is vital to know the background. The Minoan civilization flourished around the Mediterranean island of Crete (Lobell, Jarrett A). In 1901, British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans began excavating the site of Knossos, which lies at the northeastern coast of Crete (Image 1) (Gere, Cathy).
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The site of Knossos was built around 1900 B.C. and covers about 200 acres of land, which includes buildings and tombs ("The Palace of Minos"). There is evidence of people inhabiting Knossos, but it is difficult to estimate population density; but the size of the site suggests that there was a population of several thousands ("The Palace of Minos"). The most important building on the site of Knossos is the palace of course, but there were other small important buildings, which contained ceremonial events ("The Palace of Minos"). Evans believed that they housed local gentry and he named them villas, which replicated Minoan palaces ("The Palace of Minos"). The palace of Knossos was used for about 700 years, but there were two events that slowed the usage, the first event was, the first palace was destroyed around 1700 B.C. by a massive earthquake, which also destroyed all the other palaces in Crete ("The Palace of Minos"). Knossos was then immediately rebuilt to form an even more advanced and elaborate complex (Sakoulas) (Image 9). The second palace of Knossos covered approximately 5.6 acres of land ("The Palace of Minos"). The palace was constructed with stone as the primary material, but the framing was constructed with timber, which provided support against earthquakes ("The Palace of Minos"). Wood was used to create the upper storey, columns, roofs, doors and …show more content…
One of the world oldest shipwrecks was found on the coast of Uluburun, near southwestern Turkey, which contained the wealthiest collection of Bronze Age items found in the Mediterranean (Holloway, April). Mehmed Cakir discovered the Ship in 1982 at depths of about 52 metres, when the ship had sunk it was carrying over 20 tons of cargo which included both raw materials and finished good (Holloway, April) (Image 12). The materials that were in the ship have been traced back to at least seven different civilizations, which are Mycenaean, Syro-Palestinian, Cypriot, Egyptian, Kassite, Assyrian and Nubian (Holloway, April). Some of the materials that were found were ten tons of copper, gold, silver, beads made out of glass, bronze tools and wooden writing boards and ceramics ( (Holloway, April) (Image 13). These items indicate that there was possibly an international trade network that was around the
The Minoans society wasn't really an economic social society. In the archeological records, we find that the houses "poorer" parts of their towns were rather large and plush. Women were regarded rather highly in their society, many of their paintings are depictions of women. There is little evidence that they were war like, nor did they appear to go on military expeditions. This comes from the lack of weapons in the burial sites, there aren't any warrior tombs, nor are there paintings of war; which is something that was dominant in all other cultures at the time. They were mostly traders, as in merchants. They traded throughout Greece, Ionia, the Levant and Egypt. Their cities weren't strategically located, meaning
As the name suggests the Bronze Age is a period of human culture, in which civilizations heavily used copper and bronze for various aspects of life and trading. The beginning of the Bronze Age is estimated to date before 3000 BCE in parts of Med. Europe, Middle East and China. Knossos and Mycenae are both archeological sites, and date back to the Bronze Age. Knossos was the capital of the ancient Minoan civilization; located on the island of Crete. Mycenae was a massive fortified palace, located between two hills on the plain of the Peloponnese, Greece.
Although the Aegean World did not have the best land, with metals and timber from abroad, the Minoan and Mycenaean societies were able to be successful during that time. The Minoan civilization, which has an ethnicity that is a mystery, accomplished many things while living on the island of Crete. Mycenaean Greece was very successful
There were buildings found with complex drainage systems and wide, paved streets, perfect for merchants, show sophistication unlike anything else from that time. The city was well planned and organized, and the size of some of the buildings indicate that they may have been used for religious or administrative purposes. The architecture is similar to that found on Crete, which is evidence of cultural diffusion between the two places, and their possible influence on each other. Crete-like architecture shows a trade route and influence from Crete, which means historians can find more connections between the Minoans on Crete and the Minoans in Akrotiri, which we would have not gained otherwise. From the buried city at the Akrotiri excavation site, we gained so much information about life in the Bronze Age, especially about their society and
Renfrew, Colin. The Emergence of Civilisation: The Cyclades and the Aegean in the Third Millennium B.C. London: Metheun 1972.
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