DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7519#0314
A SURVEY OF THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION 279
of artificial structure, while on most other sites they were still
inhabiting caves until the very end of the period.
In the Early Minoan Period (c. 3000-c. 2200 B.C.) the popula- The Early
tion of the island increased rapidly (see Map 13).1 The most ^?™°0™
noteworthy feature is the foundation of important towns on
the coast such as Palaikastro, Pseira, Mokhlos, and Gournia.
The most prosperous settlements are in the East and there is
little doubt, taking into account the evidence of the finds also,
that this new wave of colonization came as did the original
stock from Asia. In the South, however, where the Messara
is thickly settled, there is some reason to see a wave, perhaps
a small one, of immigrants from Libya. At all events, life
becomes far easier, and ordered communities are springing up.
But the island is still divided into three main groups, Central,
Southern, and Eastern, and it may well be that these groups
correspond to tribal divisions on the Asiatic side, each of which
reinforced during the third millennium its original emigrants.
Further excavation in Anatolia and Syria alone can tell us.
In every department of life great strides have been made.
House architecture, for which the eastern end of the island
affords us the best evidence, had reached a very high pitch.
The old ' but and ben ' hut of Neolithic days was enlarged by
throwing off additional rooms though little regular planning is
yet to be seen. As always, in primitive times, funerary architec-
ture reflects the fashions of a previous generation and we find
in the East the old ' but-and-ben ' surviving for tombs. Even
this concession to fashion must have seemed new-fangled to
some for the rock-shelter, which is still practically universal
in the centre, is frequently found. In the South by E.M.n the
circular tomb, no doubt reminiscent of Libya, had ousted
other forms of burial.
It is impossible to say what kind of social order existed.
Glotz has drawn a delightful picture of a patriarchal com-
munity which he bases on the multiple burials in the tombs both
of South and East Crete.2 He sees each clan or genos with its
own house and its own tomb and he traces the breaking up of
the clan in the introduction of separate interments in later
times. Attractive as this theory is, there is not sufficient weight
of evidence to support it. Individual burials are common
1 In this and the following maps are included, in italics, sites which
cannot be more accurately dated than to E.M., &c. A list of these is
at the end of the chapter.
2 The Aegean Civilization, 134 flr.
of artificial structure, while on most other sites they were still
inhabiting caves until the very end of the period.
In the Early Minoan Period (c. 3000-c. 2200 B.C.) the popula- The Early
tion of the island increased rapidly (see Map 13).1 The most ^?™°0™
noteworthy feature is the foundation of important towns on
the coast such as Palaikastro, Pseira, Mokhlos, and Gournia.
The most prosperous settlements are in the East and there is
little doubt, taking into account the evidence of the finds also,
that this new wave of colonization came as did the original
stock from Asia. In the South, however, where the Messara
is thickly settled, there is some reason to see a wave, perhaps
a small one, of immigrants from Libya. At all events, life
becomes far easier, and ordered communities are springing up.
But the island is still divided into three main groups, Central,
Southern, and Eastern, and it may well be that these groups
correspond to tribal divisions on the Asiatic side, each of which
reinforced during the third millennium its original emigrants.
Further excavation in Anatolia and Syria alone can tell us.
In every department of life great strides have been made.
House architecture, for which the eastern end of the island
affords us the best evidence, had reached a very high pitch.
The old ' but and ben ' hut of Neolithic days was enlarged by
throwing off additional rooms though little regular planning is
yet to be seen. As always, in primitive times, funerary architec-
ture reflects the fashions of a previous generation and we find
in the East the old ' but-and-ben ' surviving for tombs. Even
this concession to fashion must have seemed new-fangled to
some for the rock-shelter, which is still practically universal
in the centre, is frequently found. In the South by E.M.n the
circular tomb, no doubt reminiscent of Libya, had ousted
other forms of burial.
It is impossible to say what kind of social order existed.
Glotz has drawn a delightful picture of a patriarchal com-
munity which he bases on the multiple burials in the tombs both
of South and East Crete.2 He sees each clan or genos with its
own house and its own tomb and he traces the breaking up of
the clan in the introduction of separate interments in later
times. Attractive as this theory is, there is not sufficient weight
of evidence to support it. Individual burials are common
1 In this and the following maps are included, in italics, sites which
cannot be more accurately dated than to E.M., &c. A list of these is
at the end of the chapter.
2 The Aegean Civilization, 134 flr.