The location of Knossos, reported by Homer to be the site of the palace of the legendary King Minos, Daedalus, and the Labyrinth, is on the island of Crete. Archaeological evidence indicates that the site was first occupied by about 6000 BC; an urban town was at Knossos by 2400 BC; and the Neolithic Minoan palace was probably begun about 1900 BC.
This first palace was destroyed in an earthquake about 1600 BC; and it was rebuilt and the Bronze Age Minoan palace was built on its ruins. The height of the Minoan culture and Knossos was during this Second Palatial Period (1700-1450 BC). By 1450, a series of fires and a shift in the cultural material suggests that the Mycenaeans had taken over.
Recent strontium isotope investigations have suggested that the Minoan collapse may have been the result of local insurrections, rather than Mycenaean invasions.
The Mycenaean culture collapsed about 1200 BC, but Knossos continued on as a Greek city and eventually capital city again during the classical and Hellenistic periods of the 3rd and 4th centuries BC.
The main archaeologist associated with Knossos is Arthur Evans, who spent nearly 30 years at Knossos, excavating and rebuilding parts of the walls; his work was published as The Palace of Minos at Knossos.
Sources
Also see:
- A Cretan Insurrection?
- The Palace of Minos at Knossos
- Knossos, the Minoan Palace, from About.com's Ancient History
- Knossos, Palace of Mystery, from About.com's Greece for Visitors
Preston, Laura 2004 A Mortuary Perspective on Political Changes in Late Minoan II-IIIB Crete. American Journal of Archaeology 108(3):321-348.
Sweetman, Rebecca J. 2007 Roman Knossos: The Nature of a Globalized City. American Journal of Archaeology 111(1):61-82.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
