Pendlebury, John D.: The archaeology of Crete: an introduction (London, 1939)

Chapter IV

THE LATE MINOAN PERIOD

I. LATE MINOAN I (L.M.l)
(See Map 10)

LATE MINOAN II (L.M.Il)
(See Map n)

THE REAL break between the Middle and the Late Bronze
Age exemplified by the earthquake at Knossos actually comes
within the borders of what has always been called M.M.mS.
No doubt if the original excavators had been gifted with
prophetic knowledge of what they were going to find, they
would have labelled the post-seismic M.M.111& pottery L.M.ia,
and put the division between Middle and Late Minoan at that
point. It would, however, be absurd to alter the terminology
which has served for so many years, and in the following pages
M.M.111& will still be used to describe the objects which fall
within this short period with the concession to logic of expand-
ing it to transitional M.M.m6-L.M.ia.

The earthquake at the end of M.M.ini seems to have acted
as a spur, and a glance at the map shows the great increase
in the number of settlements. L.M.i and n was the most
flourishing period that Crete had known or was to know before
Roman times. A number of sites, deserted after the final
catastrophe at the end of L.M.i-n, were not reinhabited until
the first century B.C. This catastrophe occurs at practically
every site at the end of L.M.i 6, but at Knossos at the end of
L.M.n. L.M.li, in fact, was, like M.M.n, a true Palace style,
though even more restricted in being confined to Knossos
alone. That this is the case is proved by the occurrence of
L.M.n vases of Knossian fabric in L.M.i deposits at Pseira,
Palaikastro, Gournia, and elsewhere. This being the case, it
seems best to take L.M.i and L.M.n together.

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