Everything about Minoan Chronology totally explained
Minoan chronology refers to the relative dating scheme developed by Sir
Arthur Evans for the
Bronze Age in
Crete based on the excavations initiated and managed by him at the site of the ancient city of
Knossos. He called the civilization that he discovered there
Minoan. The same scheme was later applied to the Greek mainland and the
Cyclades Islands to form a general plan for dating events of the prehistoric and early historic
Aegean. The relative chronology is based on the shapes and decorative styles of pottery found at many sites on Crete and elsewhere.
Evans and Knossos
Arthur Evans began excavating on a hill called
tou tseleve he kephala, "the headland of the chieftain", some three miles from the north coast of
Crete, on
March 23 1900. Two of the palace storerooms had been uncovered by Minos Kalokairinos in 1878. He had been stopped by the then owners of the land.
Meanwhile the citizens of the area were turning up coins and
seals inscribed with a mysterious script. These came to Evans' attention as the curator of the
Ashmolean Museum at
Oxford, which he was from 1884 to 1908. The place was rumored to have been the site of the ancient city of
Knossos.
Evans examined the site on
March 19 1894. Nothing further could be done at that time, but in 1898 Crete became an independent republic. In 1899 Evans purchased the land with his own funds (his family had been factory owners in industrial Britain) and decided to set up an excavation. In the first two weeks he discovered the
Linear A tablets, a streak of luck exceeded only by
Carl Blegen's legendary first day's dig at
Pylos, when he uncovered the Pylos tablets, written in
Linear B, a script also found at Kephala and named by Evans.
Attacking the site with crews of hundreds of diggers, Evans uncovered most of the site's 6 acres within 6 seasons. By 1905 he'd named the civilization whose traces he found there
Minoan, after the legendary king
Minos, and had created a detailed chronology of the serial phases of the pottery styles in Minoan Crete, based on what he found at
Knossos. Subsequently he concerned himself mainly with restoration, an activity that's frowned upon by archaeologists of today. He continued to excavate there and elsewhere and to
restore
until 1935.
Evans was knighted in 1911 for his work, becoming "Sir", which previously he was not. In 1921 the first edition of his monumental work,
Palace of Minos, came out, which is a sine qua non for any department of classical archaeology. On Evans' death in 1941, the
British School of Archaeology assumed responsibility for the excavation, later turning the property over to the Greek government, while retaining excavation rights.
Evans' Chronology
Evans' chronological framework had triple divisions each triply divided, a formula that has been retained, thus Early Minoan (EM) I, II and III, Middle Minoan (MM) I, II and III etc. Each subsection he divided into A and B, early and late. In 1918
Alan J. B. Wace and
Carl Blegen adapted Evans' chronology to the Greek mainland and the islands, where the culture was termed
Helladic and
Cycladic. In 1941
Arne Furumark applied the term Mycenaean to LH and LC. As it's clear that the
Mycenaean Greeks dominated at Knossos at some point in Late Minoan (LM), the latter is often included under "Mycenaean" or called "Minoan-Mycenaean".
The major study of Cretan pottery was Evans'. A very general trend of
facture was from dark decoration on a light background in the Early Minoan to white and red decorations on a dark wash of
slip in Middle Minoan, and finally a return to the earlier manner of dark on light in Late Minoan. New body shapes for vessels also emerged and various styles of decoration are evident within Evan's chronology.
Evans never intended to give exact calendrical dates to the pottery periods. He did
correlate them roughly to better dated Egyptian periods using finds of Egyptian artifacts in association with Cretan ones and obvious similarities of some types of Cretan artifacts with Egyptian ones. Subsequent investigators checking Evans' work varied the dates of some of the periods a little, usually less than a few hundred years, but the chronological structure remains basically as Evans left it, a solid framework for placing events of Aegean prehistory.
Most criticism doesn't aim at the overthrow of Evans' system, but only complains that it doesn't capture all the data, such as local variations. Even with these faults the system has no competitors. In 1958
Nikolaos Platon proposed a new chronology at the Prehistoric Conference in Hamburg. In it, the terms "Pre-palace", "Old Palace" and "New Palace" were to replace Evans' scheme. The academic community accepted the scheme but not the replacement, simply stating where in Evans' system the new terms fit.
The one serious question concerns the date of the Knossos tablets. Allegations were made that Evans falsified the stratum in which the tablets were found to place the tablets at 1400 BCE when they ought to have been the same date as the Pylos tablets, 1200 BCE. This dispute became known as the
Palmer-Boardman Dispute when it first appeared. Despite the intense debate that developed on the subject no conclusive evidence has yet been found to settle the question. A key part of the case was that a certain kind of vase, a stirrup jar (named from the handles) found in tablet contexts, is dated only to 1200. Other archaeologists hastened to the journalistic scene with instances of similar jars going back to 1400. The search for closure goes on. By default, archaeologists tend to use Evans' dating.
| Other Names |
Relative Chronology |
Conventional Dates, BCE |
Notes |
Table of Minoan Chronology
Prepalatial, Pre-Palace (Προανακτορική), Protominoan Age (Platon)
Copper Age (Matz, Hutchinson)
Early Bronze Age (Hood) |
EM |
3000-2200 (Evans, Hood)
2600-2000 (Matz) |
Πρωτομινωική or ΠΜ in Greek. |
First Early Minoan (Hutchinson)
Phase I (Platon) |
EM I |
3400-2800 (Evans)
2600-2300 (Matz)
2500-2400 (Hutchinson)
3200-2600 (Gimbutas)
3000-2600 (Willetts, Hood)
2800-2200 (Mackenzie) |
The main problem has been setting the end of the Neolithic; its layers were destroyed by building at Knossos.The period is attested by pottery from a well at Knossos, in Tholos Tomb 2 at Lebena and by an EM I layer at Debla.
|
Second Early Minoan (Hutchinson)
Phase II (Platon) |
EM II |
2800-2400 (Evans)
2300-2200 (Matz)
2300-2100 (Hutchinson)
2600-2300 (Gimbutas, Willetts, Hood) |
Seals like those of Egyptian 1st Intermediate Period, Dynasties 6-11, 2345-1991. |
Third Early Minoan (Hutchinson)
Phase III (Platon) |
EM III |
2400-2200 (Evans)
2200-2000 (Matz)
2100-2000 (Hutchinson)
2300-2160 (Gimbutas)
2300-2200 (Willetts, Hood) |
|
Palace Period (Matz, Platon)
Minoan Age (Platon)
Full Bronze Age (Matz) |
MM |
2200-1500 (Evans)
2000-1570 (Matz)
2000-1580 (Ventris & Chadwick) |
Μεσομινωική or MM in Greek |
Phase III of Pre-Palace (Platon)
Early Palace (Matz)
First or Early Palaces (Hood) |
MM IA |
2000-? (Matz)
2000-1900 (Hutchinson)
2160-1930 (Gimbutas)
2200-2000 (Willetts, Hood)
2000-1925 (Ventris & Chadwick
2200-? (MacKenzie) |
Kephala mound cleared of earlier structures, palace at Knossos begun (Hutchinson). |
Protopalatial
Old Palace (Evans)
Early Palace (Matz)
Old Palace (Παλαιοανακτορική) Phase I (Platon)
First or Early Palaces (Hood) |
MM IB |
?-1800 (Matz)
1900-1850 (Hutchinson)
2000-1900 (Platon, Willetts, Hood)
1925-1850 (Ventris & Chadwick)
1930-1800 (Gimbutas)
?-2100 (MacKenzie) |
"First Palaces" or "First temple-palaces" (Gimbutas)
Use of potter's wheel. It may have been introduced in IA. |
Protopalatial
Old Palace (Evans)
Early Palace (Matz)
Old Palace Phase II (Platon)
First or Early Palaces, Middle Bronze Age (Hood) |
MM IIA |
1850-? (Hutchinson, Ventris & Chadwick)
1900-1800 (Platon, Willetts, Hood)
2100-? (MacKenzie) |
|
Protopalatial
Old Palace (Evans)
Early Palace (Matz)
Old Palace Phase III (Platon)
First or Early Palaces, Middle Bronze Age (Hood) |
MM IIB |
?-1700 (Matz, Ventris & Chadwick)
?-1750 (Hutchinson)
1800-1700 (Platon, Willetts, Hood)
?-1900 (MacKenzie) |
Palaces were so destroyed by an earthquake ca. 1700 that they'd to be rebuilt. This is the dividing line between Old and New Palace and between II and III. |
Neopalatial
Old Palace (Evans)
Late Palace I (Matz)
New Palace (Νεοανακτορική) Phase I (Platon)
Middle Bronze Age (Hood) |
MM IIIA |
1700-? (Matz)
1700-? (Platon)
1700/1750-1600 (Hutchinson)
1700-1660 (Ventris & Chadwick)
1700-? (Willetts)
1700-? (Hood)
1900-? (MacKenzie) |
Frescoes begin.
First pot signs in Linear A. |
Neopalatial
Late Palace I (Matz)
New Palace Period Phase I (Platon)
Middle Bronze Age (Hood) |
MM IIIB |
1600-1550 (Hutchinson)
?-1570 (Matz)
?-1600 (Platon)
1660-1580 (Ventris & Chadwick)
?-1600 (Willetts)
?-1550 (Hood)
1700-1600 (Palmer)
?-1700 (MacKenzie) |
Linear A.
Another earthquake requiring more rebuilding occurred ca. 1570, which for some was the middle of IIIB and for others the start.
First Linear A archives from Mallia. |
|
LM |
1500-1000 (Evans) |
Υστερομινωική or ΥΜ in Greek |
Late Palace II (Matz)
New Palace Phase II (Platon) |
LM IA |
1550-1500 (Hutchinson)
1600-1500 (Palmer, Furumark)
1570-? (Matz)
1600-? (Platon)
1580-1510 (Ventris & Chadwick)
1700-? (MacKenzie) |
Most likely period of Thera eruption and tsunami.
Largest cache of Linear A tablets, Hagia Triada, IA and/or IB. |
Late Palace II (Matz)
New Palace Phase II (Platon) |
LM IB |
1500-1450 (Hutchinson)
?-1450 (Matz)
1510-1450 (Ventris & Chadwick)
1500-1450 (Palmer, Furumark)
?-1450 (Platon)
?-1500 (MacKenzie) |
All the palaces except Knossos were burned ca. 1450, events interpreted by the majority view as the advent of the Greeks and installment at Knossos. |
Late Palace II (Matz)
New Palace Phase III (Platon)
Palace Period (Evans, MacKenzie) |
LM II |
1450-1400 (Hutchinson, Palmer, Furumark, Matz, Platon)
1450-1405 (Ventris & Chadwick) |
The period ends with a destruction by fire of all the palaces on Crete from unknown causes. They were, of course, reoccupied. |
| Post-Palace Phase I (Platon) |
LM IIIA |
1400- (Matz)
1400-1320 (Platon)
1400-1300 (Hutchinson) |
Linear B tablets ca. 1400 (Evans and his defender, Boardman) |
| Post-Palace Phases II, III (Platon) |
LM IIIB |
1300-1200 (Hutchinson)
1320-1280 (II), 1260-1150 (III) (Platon) |
Linear B tablets ca. 1200 (Palmer, doubter of Evans' chronology) |
|
LM IIIC |
?-1100 (Matz)
1260-1050 (Willetts) |
A general Mycenaean Greek palace destruction by fire on the mainland and Crete happened in a window of time ca. 1200 at the end of IIIB. How wide a window isn't known, nor are the causes for sure. Some possibilities are any or all of civil strife, the Sea Peoples, the Dorians. |
| Subminoan Age (Platon, Matz, Willetts) |
|
1100- (Matz)
1150-1000 (Platon)
1075-1025 (Furumark)
1050-900 (Willetts) |
This period is considered a Mycenaean Greek holdout against the Dorian Greeks arriving at this time. Its end marks the completion of assimilation to them. |
Other tables on the Internet
The search for a consistent chronology of Cretan civilization goes on. Other tabular chronologies have been published on the Internet by
Ian Swindale
Dartmouth College
ExploreCrete.com
World History Encyclopedia
Thera Foundation
L. Marangou in the Foundation of the Hellenic World site
Companion to Manning (Cornell)
University of Oklahoma.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Minoan Chronology'.
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