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MINOAN CRETE

20 YEARS ONLINE


Between 3000 and 1100 BCE a unique civilization developed and flourished on the island of Crete. The arrival of new peoples, new technologies and new ideas transformed the small pre-existing neolithic communities over a period of hundreds of years. By 2000 BCE the Minoans began to build palaces, conducted trade across wide areas of the eastern Mediterranean, developed a hierarchical society with centralised administration and produced wonderful pottery, jewellery, statues, carvings, frescoes and other artefacts.

Remains of dozens of sites where the Minoans lived and worked can still be seen on Crete today. The aim of this web site is to provide a well illustrated introduction to all the major and many of the minor archaeological sites of Minoan Crete, using text based on excavators' reports as well as plans, photos and video clips. I hope that in the process you will also discover something of the life of the people who occupied these sites.

This website is for anyone with an interest in Minoan civilisation -- tourists, students, archaeologists professional and amateur. Teachers and students of archaeology may be particularly interested in some of the photos, videos and reports of lesser known sites which may not be easily obtainable in their own countries. Archaeologists, teachers and students are welcome to freely use the contents of this site within their educational institutions.



A selection of Minoan artefacts

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CHRONOLOGY OF MINOAN CRETE: A pop-up box will open.

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VIDEO CLIPS
Fourteen high definition videos now uploaded. Click where you see the video camera icon. On some Android devices, video clips only play on Chrome.
Download videos from My Minoan YouTube channel.

LARGE PHOTOS ARE BEST
Click on a small photo to get a full-screen version and see all the detail missing in small pics. Use the back button to return to the site page. Photos may be kept for personal use.

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SITE PLANS
Many pages have a plan of the archaeological site. Click where you see the site plan icon.
Pop up boxes may need permission to open in IE or if you have an anti-java script add-on active in your browser.

DEFINITIONS
Archaeological terms underlined with a series of dots are defined. Hover your mouse over the word to see the definition. Some of the sources can be found in the resources menu.

ANDROID: Users of Android mobile devices are advised to use the Chrome browser to view this site properly.

CONTACT:
For comments on the site or permission to reproduce photos email me, Ian Swindale, at zominthosatyahoo.co.uk

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See Minoan Crete on Google Earth

Got Google Earth on your computer? You can now see many of the Minoan archaeological sites featured on this website. Click here to find out how.

All photos, text and design (unless otherwise stated) copyright © Ian Swindale, 1998-2018.

I am obliged by Greek law to include the following:
The rights of the depicted monuments belong to the Greek State and the Ministry of Culture and Sports (Law 3028/2002) © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports (Law 3028/2002)