Minoan

The Minoans mostly lived in caves during the Neolithic period and probably continued to do so in some parts of Crete into the Early Bronze Age. Nevertheless, even by the early Neolithic, a small village was already forming at the future "capital" of Knossos, and by the end of the Stone Age, another village had emerged at Phaistos (Branigan 1988, 37).

In the Early Bronze Age, "apartment-complex" structures began to appear in Crete, such as the domestic structure at Myrtos described in chapter 4. A similar creation appeared in the Early Minoan II period (2500-2200 b. c.e.) on the hilltop of Vasiliki. This unit, like that at Myrtos, rose upon a foundation of small stones bound together with clay and straw. Clay bricks were used for the upper structures, which were then covered over with a layer of fine plaster, often painted red. Timbers were set both vertically and horizontally in the walls, probably to give support and elasticity in case of earthquake (a common occurrence in the Aegean). The roofs were of reeds or possibly wood, sealed with roofing plaster against the rain. Both Vasiliki and Myrtos made use of unroofed areas called light-wells, which allowed both light and air into the complex. Inside, there were rooms with long benches, which are the closest thing to furniture that researchers have discovered. Both light-wells and benches also appeared in the palace architecture of the following era (Branigan 1988, 44-47).

Unlike the apartment complexes of the previous age, Minoan houses of the Middle and Late Bronze Age were individual and independent. Rectilinear or square in shape, they were constructed on a stone foundation with walls of stone, adobe, or mud brick, covered inside and out with plastering for protection from rain. Some windows are evident in the walls, as are permanent hearths in the floors. Flat roofs consisted of crossbeams covered with reeds or wood, and then, once again, were waterproofed with plastering. Clay chimneys in the roofs let out smoke from the hearths, a need that precluded the building of upper stories. Inside was a lot of storage space, including pithoi, wall cupboards, and plastered benches. Walls were sometimes painted, although not to such a degree as the palaces or villas (see below). Water tanks and cisterns gathered water for day-to-day living, but there is no evidence for an actual plumbing system (Waterhouse 1990, 312-313).

The palaces were the crowning glory of Minoan architecture. These were huge structures incorporating areas for residence, storage, production, archives, and ritual. As can be seen at Knossos (see Image 9.2), the palaces incorporated a continuous series of buildings around a large central court, open to the sky and usually oriented north-south. To the west of this group was usually another open court with an elaborate fagade on its eastern side. This west court probably served as a place of assembly and, possibly, religious rituals. Between and around the courts at ground level were several long, narrow rooms containing storage equipment, production workshops, and columns and pillars supporting the upper stories. These upper rooms (which have seldom survived to the present day) were considerably larger than the basement rooms and were accessible through large, monumental staircases. Dotted throughout the palaces were light-wells: mini open-air courts allowing light and air into the palace interiors, and if necessary, letting smoke out. These light-wells were distinguished from "regular" rooms by their waterproof flooring, necessary as they were unroofed against rain.

9.2 Plan of Palace at Knossos (Courtesy of Stephanie Budin)

In the upper stories, such as those that remain at Knossos, rooms could change their size and access through a Minoan architectural feature called the polythyron ("many doors") or "pier-and-door" partitions. These consisted of a series of doors that could be opened or closed to block off all of, or a portion of, a wall. With the doors closed, the room was smaller and contained. When open, they made for a larger, more accessible area. In contrast to the pier-and-door partitioned areas were smaller rooms literally sunken into the floor, with a small staircase that led from an almost loft-like level above. Evans, who first dug at Knossos (see chapter 3), dubbed these lustral basins, claiming that some manner of bathing or washing ritual took place in these sunken areas. This name is still accepted, although doubt remains as to their actual purpose.

Windows punctuated the walls of Minoan palaces, including a generally elaborate window on the west fagade in each palace's west court. Wooden columns, painted red, supported the roofs. In contrast to later Greek columns, Minoan columns were thicker at the top and narrower at the bottom, which gave a sense of lightness to the construction. The roofs themselves, from what we can tell, were flat, and in later periods might have been decorated with large, monumental horns of consecration (see chapter 8). Beneath the ground, stone-lined channels and clay pipes served as plumbing (Dickinson 1994, 149). Many elements of the Minoan palaces, from light-wells to long, narrow workshops to polythyra, were incorporated into the villas, which began to appear in Crete in the Second Palace period, making them literally miniature palaces.

Inside the palaces, frescoes decorated the walls, as they would in all the more elaborate domestic architecture of the Minoan and Mycenaean periods (see Image 7.2). Unlike the style called buon fresco, in which paint is applied to wet plaster so as to seep into the wall itself, in the Minoan frescoes, the artist painted on dry plaster, then sealed it over with an adhesive. Painted scenes came from the daily lives of the Minoans and, later, Mycenaeans. For example, the Bull-Leaper Fresco from Knossos shows a male and two females in the process of leaping over a running bull. As is standard with Minoan (as well as Egyptian, and later Greek) iconography, females are painted with fair skin and males with darker flesh (possibly due to their spending more time outdoors). This image may provide evidence for a Minoan athletic, and possibly religious, event where trained acrobats performed over charging bulls. Likewise, the frescoes of the Minoan colony at Thera show people in various daily activities, such as fishing, boxing, and gathering flowers, giving a glimpse at their clothing, jewelry, and possibly even religious beliefs (see chapter 8).

Nature was also a favorite theme of the Minoans. Frescoes show rugged hills covered with flowers, swallows in acrobatic flight, agrimi (horned relatives of the goat) out in the countryside, and even the occasional flying fish. In the Mi-noan repertoire, geometric and other nonnaturalistic designs were reserved for borders. By contrast, the Mycenaeans, who adopted many Minoan styles, cultivated a more static and geometric feeling in their frescoes. When the flowers look patterned, and the background goes from flowering hills to wavy bands, researchers know they are looking at a Mycenaean creation.