Hawes, Charles H.; Hawes, Harriet B.: Crete, the forerunner of Greece (London, 1909)

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, DRESS, AND
HOMES OF THE MINOANS

BEFORE seeking acquaintance with the chief
Minoan sites and works of art, it will be well
to know something of the people themselves, their
everyday circumstances, occupations, and ideals.

Who were the Minoans ? Archaeologists have
sought an answer to this question ever since their
first discoveries. Human remains of Minoan times
have been brought to light in cave and ossuary,
and have been turned over to anthropologists for
examination. Professors Sergi and Boyd Dawkins,
Dr. Duckworth and Mr. C. H. Hawes agree in as-
signing them to a type which persists in the Medi-
terranean basin to-day, and is called by Professor
Sergi 'the Mediterranean race.' Modern Europe is
divided racially into three belts, of which the
southern is occupied by the Mediterranean race,
the central by the Alpine, and the northern by the
Nordic or Teutonic race. The Mediterranean
race type is dolichocephalic or long-headed, brunet,
and of short stature, well represented among the
Sardinians to-day. About one hundred Minoan
skulls have been measured, chiefly by Dr. Duck-
worth, and of these the great majority are dis-
tinctly long-headed. The average stature esti-