Study Of Societies; Minoan Crete

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Society in Minoan Crete The Geographical Environment Crete is situated in the Mediterranean Sea, 107km south of Thera. It is a mountainous island, with the 3 main ranges being the White Mountains, The Ida Range, and Mt Ditke. These mountain ranges exceed 1800m, some reaching to 2400m. Crete’s natural resources include timber from the forests of the highland, as well as limestone deposits, Agricultural exports such as olives, grapes, mulberries, almonds, carob (a chocolate substitute) and a variety of vegetables, as well as the honey Crete was famed for. Industries Textile Industry Most of our knowledge about the textile industry comes from the writing tablets. So far, it has been deciphered that the textile industry in Minoan Crete dates to c. 2300BC and includes wool and linen, other evidence includes loom weights, spindles and threads. The Linear B tablets deciphered by John Killen found that the wool industry in Crete was based on 100,000 wethers a year. The success of the Minoan textile industry came mainly from the vibrantly coloured cloth, dyed using colours found in the environment, such as the murex mollusc (purple) woad plant (blue) madder (red/orange) and saffron (yellow) The workforce of the textile industry in the palace period was predominantly women, with women overseers as well. Each worker had an area of specialty within the process. Pottery Industry The Minoans used pottery for almost everything, from eating off, to storage. The different types of pottery in Crete included the “beautiful and striking” Koumasa, the mottled red and brown ware found at Vasiliki, the bird shaped vase, and after the invention of the potter’s wheel (MMI), finer vessels such as one handled mugs or conical cups could be manufactured. Large pithoi were introduced for storage, and burials in larnakes, a large pottery chest inspired by the Egyptians,

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