DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12762#0160
INTERPRETATIVE
133
for the density of the population in the Early and Middle Minoan ages. And the minoan
there is no reason to suppose that this part of Mesara was particularly crowded, civilisation
In fact, it is more likely that the population was even denser in other more population
fertile parts of the plain, in the region stretching westwards, from Platanos
through Phaestos and Hagia Triada to the sea, where the soil is richer and
better watered.
This density of population implies that the Minoans lived a comfortable Peaceful
life in peaceful conditions. We have found nothing that suggests war, nothing Conditions
to imply civil strife or even defence against foreign raids. The only suggestion
of a warlike disposition in the people or of an inclination to the shedding of
man's blood comes from the daggers found. Yet nothing else in the tombs
supports the idea, and the general impression that we get is against it. The
impression we get is that to wear a dagger was a Minoan fashion (as it was
later and as it is to-day in Crete in spite of all laws against it), which may
indeed have arisen in the stress of actual war but continued afterwards as a
habit, the dagger becoming an article of dress necessary to the ' get up ' of the
Cretan man. The M.M. I figurines from Petsofa,1 for instance, show us Minoans
in a perfectly peaceful context where the keynote is worship, yet they wear the
dagger at the waist.2
The peaceful untroubled existence of the Minoans is shown by the objects
buried with their dead, and particularly by the stone vases, which make it clear
that they had leisure to expend a vast amount of time and trouble on vessels
of which the only use was sepulchral.
The gold ornaments buried with the dead, of which we may believe only
a small part to have come doAvn to us, the quantity of ivory, the use of precious
stones for ornaments and for seals, all tell the same tale of wealth and ease,
which is repeated by the bracelets, rings, and necklaces, the hairpins and toilet
implements, all of which imply that in Mesara both men and women had time
to take a lively interest in their personal appearance.
All this wealth Avas probably due in large part to the operations of agri- industry and
culture and stock-raising. The fertile plain, sheltered on north and south by Handicrafts
Ida and the Asterousia range, must have been well suited for all kinds of tillage,
while the slopes of the mountains would have given grazing to countless flocks
of sheep and goats.
The hunting of wild animals must have been practised in this Early Minoan Agriculture and
age on an important scale, to judge from the number of representations of big stock-raising
and lesser game, the lion, the wild ox, the bear, and the ibex, and with them a
dog of a sporting type. Indeed, the thick forests of the time must have sheltered
an abundance of game.
Another important factor in the prosperity of Crete in this epoch was her Maritime Traffic
sea-borne trade. For the flourishing state of Early Minoan maritime traffic
1 B.S.A., IX, Plate X.
2 Still,' church parade ' is not unknown in some armies.—J. P. D.
133
for the density of the population in the Early and Middle Minoan ages. And the minoan
there is no reason to suppose that this part of Mesara was particularly crowded, civilisation
In fact, it is more likely that the population was even denser in other more population
fertile parts of the plain, in the region stretching westwards, from Platanos
through Phaestos and Hagia Triada to the sea, where the soil is richer and
better watered.
This density of population implies that the Minoans lived a comfortable Peaceful
life in peaceful conditions. We have found nothing that suggests war, nothing Conditions
to imply civil strife or even defence against foreign raids. The only suggestion
of a warlike disposition in the people or of an inclination to the shedding of
man's blood comes from the daggers found. Yet nothing else in the tombs
supports the idea, and the general impression that we get is against it. The
impression we get is that to wear a dagger was a Minoan fashion (as it was
later and as it is to-day in Crete in spite of all laws against it), which may
indeed have arisen in the stress of actual war but continued afterwards as a
habit, the dagger becoming an article of dress necessary to the ' get up ' of the
Cretan man. The M.M. I figurines from Petsofa,1 for instance, show us Minoans
in a perfectly peaceful context where the keynote is worship, yet they wear the
dagger at the waist.2
The peaceful untroubled existence of the Minoans is shown by the objects
buried with their dead, and particularly by the stone vases, which make it clear
that they had leisure to expend a vast amount of time and trouble on vessels
of which the only use was sepulchral.
The gold ornaments buried with the dead, of which we may believe only
a small part to have come doAvn to us, the quantity of ivory, the use of precious
stones for ornaments and for seals, all tell the same tale of wealth and ease,
which is repeated by the bracelets, rings, and necklaces, the hairpins and toilet
implements, all of which imply that in Mesara both men and women had time
to take a lively interest in their personal appearance.
All this wealth Avas probably due in large part to the operations of agri- industry and
culture and stock-raising. The fertile plain, sheltered on north and south by Handicrafts
Ida and the Asterousia range, must have been well suited for all kinds of tillage,
while the slopes of the mountains would have given grazing to countless flocks
of sheep and goats.
The hunting of wild animals must have been practised in this Early Minoan Agriculture and
age on an important scale, to judge from the number of representations of big stock-raising
and lesser game, the lion, the wild ox, the bear, and the ibex, and with them a
dog of a sporting type. Indeed, the thick forests of the time must have sheltered
an abundance of game.
Another important factor in the prosperity of Crete in this epoch was her Maritime Traffic
sea-borne trade. For the flourishing state of Early Minoan maritime traffic
1 B.S.A., IX, Plate X.
2 Still,' church parade ' is not unknown in some armies.—J. P. D.