Minoan Social Structure

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There are rich sources of archaeological evidence that illustrate the social structure and political organization in Bronze Age Minoan Crete. These sources include a significant number of tablets with written information, frescoes and reliefs, surviving buildings and Greek myths and legend. It is clear that Minoan society was deeply hierarchical. The main pieces of evidence that illustrates the place of craftsmen and agricultural workers are linear A and B tablets, Minoan pottery, sculptures and remains of farmhouses. Linear A and B tablets and the fine pottery reveal that there were skilled artisans in Minoan society. The tablets included engraved seals. The pottery and sculptures are clear proof of the work of craftsmen. Agricultural workers included farmers and fishermen. They had much simpler housing than the palace elite. They made up the majority of the population but had low status in the society.…show more content…
These pictures reveal women engaged in dangerous bull-leaping sports. The tablets actually describe the legal rights of women. They illustrate the rights women are entitled to, including the right to purchase and inherit property, choice to marry and right to divorce. The roles women played included priestesses, as seen in many frescoes and reliefs, athletes, functionaries, administrators, mothers and wives. All this suggests that there was a degree of gender equality. The frescoes and reliefs and palace remains present a clear picture of a society in which there is a palace elite and a class of priests and priestesses. It appears that the class of priests and priestesses was quite large and some commentators suggest the Minoan Government was a theocracy. The hierarchical nature of Minoan society is reflected through the distinction between palaces, villas, townhouses, farmhouses and huts. This also reveals that there was a palace
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