Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (365 page)

Minoan palace famed in antiquity as the home of the legendary King Minos, and location of the labyrinth with its monstrous bull-headed Minotaur. Situated in north central Crete, 5km from the coast, the site was known in the 19th century
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and a variety of archaeologists including Heinrich Schliemann excavated there. It was the work of Sir Arthur Evans between 1900 and 1929 which really opened the site up. The earliest occupation extends back to about 6000 bc with an aceramic Neolithic exploiting the agricultural potential of the fertile and well-watered valley. By 1900 bc the Neolithic settlement had expanded considerably and even as early as 2400 bc had within it some substantial structures and the first signs of a densely occupied town. The main elements of the palace had been built by about 1900 bc, although it continued to expand and change. At the centre lay a great court, flanked on the west by a second court. Near the west wing were storehouses. Artefacts recovered from here and elsewhere in the palace showed extensive trading with Egypt and the Near East.
Around 1700 bc Crete was devastated by a massive earthquake and the palace was destroyed. The builders of the second palace levelled the earlier structure, removing many deposits in the process. This new structure flourished between 1700 and 1450 bc, a time when Crete reached its zenith of cultural sophistication and power. The complexity of the internal arrangement of the second palace is clearly the origin of the labyrinth myth, although in fact there is some order to the structure. The prime functions of the palace were economic and religious, and this is reflected in the remains found which include eighteen storerooms, seals and Linear A and Linear B writing tablets, and cult equipment. The Knossos throne room has a magnificent throne flanked by wall paintings showing griffins and projects an image of divine power. Around 1450 bc the town that had grown up around the palace was destroyed, the palace itself surviving until around 1375 bc. Its final destruction is linked to a Minoan rebellion again Mycenaean overlordship.
[Rep.: J. D. S. Pendlebury , 1974,
A handbook to the Palace of Minos, Knossos, with its dependencies
(2nd edition). London: Macdonald and Janes]

 
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A regional group of the central European
URNFIELD CULTURE
found in Bohemia, Bavaria, and parts of Thuringia between 1400 and 900 bc.

 
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Large passage grave cemetery on the north side of the River Boyne in central Ireland. Extensively excavated and restored by George Eogan from 1961 onwards, the site is one of three such cemeteries in what is known as the Bend of the Boyne between Drogheda and Slane. In the 4th millennium
bc
the cemetery is dominated by simple passage graves, eighteen of which have been recorded, but around 3200 bc work started on the construction of a large
DEVELOPED PASSAGE GRAVE
over 60m in diameter. It covers two chambers, each approached by a passage, one opening into each side of the mound. The mound is surrounded by a kerb of decorated slabs, while further stones bearing
PASSAGE GRAVE ART
lie in the chambers and along the sides of the approach passages. See also
NEWGRANGE
and DOWTH.
[Sum.: G. Eogan , 1986,
Knowth
. London: Thames & Hudson]

 
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Younger son of Svein Forkbeard , king of Denmark. After 1016 king of England (through his father's conquest) and from 1018 king of Denmark, on the death of his elder brother. After 1030 he also became king of Norway, but his powerful North Sea empire collapsed at his death in ad 1035.

 
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Early Arctic coastally based hunter-gatherer communities living on Kodiak Island and the adjacent mainland of Alaska in the period 4000 bc through to historic times. Characterized by the extensive use of chipped basalt and polished slate in the production of tools and weapons. The subsistence economy, probably derived from
OCEAN BAY TRADITIONS
, was based on hunting sea mammals, salmon fishing, and caribou hunting.

 
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