Introducing... The Minoans

Oh, horror.  They're sending me out on site next week.  It's a watching brief.  It involves mud, and trowels, and for once there's a very real possibility that I'll actually find something.  Aargh!!  It'll be cold, and wet, and miserable, no doubt. 

To warmer climes now... 

The Minoans are popular.  Clearly.  And I'm feeling inadequate already because there's a whole load of you out there who probably know a lot more about these people than I do!  Consider this a whistlestop tour for the uninitiated, and if all you Classicists and archaeologists want to join in by adding your comments, etc.  then I'd be delighted to hear what you have to say.  Jenny Blackford, thank you already for your suggestions for further reading!  Any additional hints for the enhancement of my library would, of course, be greatly appreciated.

I've wanted to visit Knossos for over twenty years, ever since we had a series of undergraduate lectures on the Minoans and Mycenaeans.  Over the decades, my memories of what elements were actually Minoan and which were Mycenaean became blurred - it's an aspect of archaeology which I've sadly neglected until now.  Our tour of Crete was a wonderful opportunity to get to learn more about these people, and to see how their material culture compares with our own.

It's hard sometimes to remember how colourful the past once was.  So just to remind you, I've chosen to post some of the Minoan frescos.  A helpful hint which will assist in interpretation.  The skin of the women is white, the skin of the men is red-brown.  It was suggested by one of our guides last week that some more androgynous white figures may in fact be eunuchs, but this was denied by another guide. 

The truth is, as they say, out there... 

So first of all, here's the 'Ladies in Blue', with the girls looking particularly sassy:-

I particularly like the hairstyles...
 
And now here's some of the men.  The figure at the right hand side in the bottom fresco is carrying a vessel form known as a rhyton.  These objects are wonderful.  So wonderful in fact that I'll be giving them a post in their own right:-

 

The pictures above feature of course the reconstructions at Knossos.  Don't worry: I did photograph some of the originals in Heraklion museum, in particular the classic fresco of the Bull-leapers.  I'll feature that in due course. 

And a picture of another classic fresco, the dolphins in the so-called 'Queen's Megaron'. 
 

Sadly, we weren't able to access a number of the famous Minoan frescos due to the deteriorating condition of the site.  Evidently, the concrete Sir Arthur Evans used to restore the ancient buildings is now beginning to deteriorate, which is causing major angst to the authorities.  Entry to the reconstructed buildings is therefore restricted, and the situation is likely to worsen in the coming years.  So, if you want to see Knossos 'in the flesh', so to speak, see it soon. 

Heraklion Museum is also being extended and rearranged at the moment, which means that only a fraction of its exhibits are currently on display.  I'm particularly disappointed that I didn't get to see the 'Hall of the Double Axes': being a fan of Bronze Age metalwork in general, I was hoping to get the double axe vibes, so to speak!

According to my little book, (Knossos: The Minoan Civilisation by Sosso Logiadou), the frescoes at Knossos date to the Second Palace Period (1700 -1350 BC).  This corresponds to the so-called 'Neo-Palatial' or 'Late Minoan' period.  As these posts progress, I'll try and draw in some more of the material culture and structures.  It's quite an exciting prospect - I'm hopefully going to improve my own knowledge and understanding of the Minoans as I have to read up on what I've seen and try and put everything together.  

At the moment, I'm still suffering from an information overload!

Introducing... The Minoans

Oh, horror.  They're sending me out on site next week.  It's a watching brief.  It involves mud, and trowels, and for once there's a very real possibility that I'll actually find something.  Aargh!!  It'll be cold, and wet, and miserable, no doubt. 

To warmer climes now... 

The Minoans are popular.  Clearly.  And I'm feeling inadequate already because there's a whole load of you out there who probably know a lot more about these people than I do!  Consider this a whistlestop tour for the uninitiated, and if all you Classicists and archaeologists want to join in by adding your comments, etc.  then I'd be delighted to hear what you have to say.  Jenny Blackford, thank you already for your suggestions for further reading!  Any additional hints for the enhancement of my library would, of course, be greatly appreciated.

I've wanted to visit Knossos for over twenty years, ever since we had a series of undergraduate lectures on the Minoans and Mycenaeans.  Over the decades, my memories of what elements were actually Minoan and which were Mycenaean became blurred - it's an aspect of archaeology which I've sadly neglected until now.  Our tour of Crete was a wonderful opportunity to get to learn more about these people, and to see how their material culture compares with our own.

It's hard sometimes to remember how colourful the past once was.  So just to remind you, I've chosen to post some of the Minoan frescos.  A helpful hint which will assist in interpretation.  The skin of the women is white, the skin of the men is red-brown.  It was suggested by one of our guides last week that some more androgynous white figures may in fact be eunuchs, but this was denied by another guide. 

The truth is, as they say, out there... 

So first of all, here's the 'Ladies in Blue', with the girls looking particularly sassy:-

I particularly like the hairstyles...
 
And now here's some of the men.  The figure at the right hand side in the bottom fresco is carrying a vessel form known as a rhyton.  These objects are wonderful.  So wonderful in fact that I'll be giving them a post in their own right:-

 

The pictures above feature of course the reconstructions at Knossos.  Don't worry: I did photograph some of the originals in Heraklion museum, in particular the classic fresco of the Bull-leapers.  I'll feature that in due course. 

And a picture of another classic fresco, the dolphins in the so-called 'Queen's Megaron'. 
 

Sadly, we weren't able to access a number of the famous Minoan frescos due to the deteriorating condition of the site.  Evidently, the concrete Sir Arthur Evans used to restore the ancient buildings is now beginning to deteriorate, which is causing major angst to the authorities.  Entry to the reconstructed buildings is therefore restricted, and the situation is likely to worsen in the coming years.  So, if you want to see Knossos 'in the flesh', so to speak, see it soon. 

Heraklion Museum is also being extended and rearranged at the moment, which means that only a fraction of its exhibits are currently on display.  I'm particularly disappointed that I didn't get to see the 'Hall of the Double Axes': being a fan of Bronze Age metalwork in general, I was hoping to get the double axe vibes, so to speak!

According to my little book, (Knossos: The Minoan Civilisation by Sosso Logiadou), the frescoes at Knossos date to the Second Palace Period (1700 -1350 BC).  This corresponds to the so-called 'Neo-Palatial' or 'Late Minoan' period.  As these posts progress, I'll try and draw in some more of the material culture and structures.  It's quite an exciting prospect - I'm hopefully going to improve my own knowledge and understanding of the Minoans as I have to read up on what I've seen and try and put everything together.  

At the moment, I'm still suffering from an information overload!