The Ancient Minoans and Their Demise

Linear B writing emerged in Knossos after Linear A writing but before the fall of the Palace of Knossos. We can then deduce that people writing in Linear B (Mycenaeans) conquered those writing in Linear A (Minoans), or at the very least, Minoans allowed the Linear B writers into its political center as a peaceful accommodation. Nonetheless, finding the Linear B tablets at the Palace of Knossos is important because it lets us know that at some point Mycenaeans had lived on the Island of Crete. Finally, discovering Linear B tablets allows us to see how the Greek language evolved because the tablets show Greek language its very earliest form.

One may ask, who are the Minoans? Well they are considered by many Historians and Archeologists to be the first great European Civilization. Some people believed that this was the mythical land of Atlantis. They were located near the Aegean Sea and lands such as Greece, Troy and Asia Minor. One interesting fact is that these people never called themselves the Minoans. There wasn’t any name listed in the history books for these people but the Ancient Crete Civilization. They were known as the Crete Civilization because they lived on the island of Crete which is now part of Greece. It wasn’t until a 19th century British Archeologist, Sir Author Evans gave them the name, The Minoans. He gave them this name because he believed he had found the legendary palace of King Minos. There has been many civilization collapses over the World’s history, but most can be explained in great detail. There are some that are very mysterious and not definitively explained. The collapse of the Minoan people happens to be one of those mysterious collapses which ranks 3rd in the top ten most mysterious collapses of the world and is still to this day debated on what actually caused their demise. There are many factors that go into the collapse of a civilization, but this kind of catastrophe doesn’t just happen in a blink of an eye this is something that happens over a long period of time. This paper will touch on the climate and environment, the time period and culture, how they became

(Bright, Hilda, and Helen Pocock.) The Minoans were the first advanced society in Europe 's history. The Minoans were found throughout mainland Greece and throughout the Mediterranean Sea and the island of Crete. Around the year 6500 the Cretans were documented in hunting, fishing, and engaged in pagan worship. In the year 3000 B.C. and the years following, immigrants from Northern Africa came to Crete. They were skilled in Bronze making. This would soon lead to the Bronze Age and the Greek empire would grow and become more powerful. In the years after 2000 B.C. is when most of the palaces and the other artifacts that are still visible today were made. (Kyriakopoulos, Victoria. pg. 23-24)

?Humans are believed to have arrived on the island now known as Crete sometime between 6500-6000 BCE, and the early Neolithic inhabitants may have arrived from Asia Minor.? While these early inhabitants were primitive, they had already adapted some stages of productivity such as possessing domestic animals (?Minoan,? Dilos).? Modern archeological findings date handmade ceramic pottery, which was frequently decorated with incised geometric motifs and made to imitate vessels made of straw, wood, or hide, to this early time period (Koutsoupakis).?

The Minoans were a civilization who flourished from 3000 BCE until 1100 BCE on the island of Crete, were greatly influenced by the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Syrians and the Anatolians (Britannica Encyclopedia). This civilization made major contributions to Western European development in the areas of language, architecture and art. It was the famous archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans who made the astounding discoveries at Knossos in the early 1900’s that introduced to the world the fascinating and wonderful sophistication of these early Greeks (Britannica Encyclopedia). The history of the island has been molded by its proximity to the Aegean Sea. Its geographical location gave it control over the sea and the lucrative trade routes. The Minoans traded with Egypt, the Levant, the Aegean, and beyond to Italy, and Sicily.

When visiting museums such as the American Museum of Natural History in New York City we can get a first-hand look at some of the massive creatures like the wooly mammoth that used to roam our planet some 11,000 years ago. And after viewing the skeletons of such extraordinary creatures known as the megafauna we may ponder as to what event transpired to eliminate so many species. What we do know is the late Pleistocene era marked a time of fluctuating climate that coincided with the migration of people into the New World. During this period mammals such as the woolly mammoth and mastodons were becoming extinct. However, questions still remain to determine if it was because of severe climatic change, or possibly the extinctions occurred from over-hunting by humans, or possibly a combination of both? These are many of the concerns that have created the foundation for a serious debate among many scholars in the anthropology and archaeology community.

Knossos was inhabited by the Minoan civilization and was a very important city-state. The city had approximately 100,000 citizens. The city of Knossos flourished with trade and commerce with other cities on the island of Crete. Knossos had flourished until around 1375 B.C.E where a volcano on the island of Thera erupted which led to Knossos being abandoned.

When king minos son Androgenus was killed by the minotaur while trying to fight it

Minoan culture is steeped in mystery, and scholarly theories swirl around the limited, archeology-based knowledge we have of these ancient Cretans. The ancient world is a slick and slippery place for historians due to the lack of records, and we must ultimately admit that we do not and cannot know the truth of those worlds. We

In order to comprehend Geoffrey Keyte’s theory concerning the lost continent of Atlantis, it is vital to comprehend the Atlanteans. According to Keyte, the Atlanteans were of extraterrestrial basis and came to Earth above fifty thousands years ago. Keyte believes the Atlanteans were above eight to twelve feet with blonde hair and blue eyes. These people were extremely fair-skinned and had life-spans of above eight hundred years. These seven to twelve foot humanoids were believed to be a myth not until a location with eight to twelve foot skeletons was excavate (Keyte). According to Keyte the Atlantean’s knowledge was far more elevated than modern technology. The Atlanteans utilized crystals such as quartz to store and transfer energy. Keyte

Santorini plays a role as the most volcanic and southernmost of the seventeen islands of the Cyclades located in the archipelago, the Aegean Sea (Cyclades Islands). This caldera was formed by a colossal volcanic eruption; which was so large, in fact, it was the source to the collapse of the earliest Minoan civilizations on the island of Crete 3,500 years ago (History of the island of Santorini - Thira). One of the cities that were founded by archaeologists, called Akrotiri from 3000 BC, was the site with the most information and objects that taught people now a days about their way of life (Thera Revisited). The Minoan eruption also led conspirators to theorize that it was the source of the legend of the underwater city, Atlantis (Santorini

Which was located on the north coast and had been occupied in the Neolithic period but the had been built over with multiple Bronze Age Structures. Evans called the complex a “Palace, a some believed to have been the home of the mythical King Minos. It was because of this theory that he named the culture found on the island, Minoan. These palaces are now considered by some to have been the administrative centers and living quarters of hereditary rules while others believe that Crete was not ruled by kings but a confederation of aristocratic

Sir Arthur Evans and Heinrich Schliemann may have made changes to some of histories most respectful artifacts from the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. These may be the thoughts and beliefs structured around the restorations and modifications to which they justified their findings.

The artwork and architecture of the Place at Knossos reveals a significant amount of detailsconcerningthe ancient Minoan civilization. According to archeological findings by Sir Evans Author, it is evident that architectureand art practiced in this society symbolize itssuccessful culture. Minoan potteries alongside other artifacts signify a highly lucrative and flourishing commerce at the Knossos (Chilvers, 2005). Elements of commercial life practiced in the Minoan civilization include excavated artworks, jewelry, sculptures, and paintings among other findings. Other than the commercial aesthetics of the Minoan civilization, there were well-organized religious and social movements. This fact relates to the archeological findings that discovered

The Minoan civilization was founded in 3000 BCE and ended in 1100 BCE, whereas the Mycenaean civilization was founded in 1900 BCE and ended in 1100 BCE (Matthews, Noble, & Platt, 2014). The Minoan and Mycenaean cultures are found to be in present day Greeks as DNA has revealed to be similar in early farmers (Reich, 2017). The Minoans were the first literate civilization in Europe. One key aspect of the Minoan and Mycenaean culture that lived on among the Greeks later was writing.