Europe's Oldest Civilization: Minoans are NOT what you've been shown

Travel with the Archaeologist to the island of Crete and explore Europe's oldest civilization, the Minoans, and their grand palace of Knossos. Learn what we know, what we don't, and, more importantly, what we got wrong!

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[DoomMomDot]

I wish we could figure out how to read their writing. a lot of our questions might be answered.

[edavidson]

I was stationed on Crete and it is absolutely the most favorite place of anywhere I was stationed at outside the U.S. The people are awesome, the history just drips from the olive trees and the scenery and tranquility are second to none. Crete and the people of Crete are nothing like their mainland counterparts and in fact, many don't see themselves as Greeks, yes it has a lot to do with their history and the conquest by the Turks but it's also this sense of independence that they have. I explored that whole island and still didn't get enough time to truly know it. Want to go back someday when the world is more at peace...so, I probably never. I miss the friends I made there and often wonder what ever became of them.

[PeloquinDavid]

I was saddened by my visit to Knossos a few years back. So much of what's on display is so obviously a "reconstruction" (and a fantasy one at that) that I couldn't help thinking of a Disney theme park...

I mean: reinforced concrete structures masquerading as Bronze Age buildings?!

[bluelithium]

Dumbfounding Greece has been able to block UNESCO from marking anything regarding Minoan from being a world heritage site. The ludacracy of Europe's first civilization having no UN recognition.

[rowronnie]

Nice bit of critique. The bronze age collapse is one of the most interesting mysteries of the ancient world

[JoshYouA-xk]

Vinca civilization is the oldest in Europe. But the Minoan civilization is very interesting from a perspective of incredible unique individuality compared to anything like what was around them. I also agree with your suggestion that Atlantis is likely Minoan Crete. It may give us an insight into what the Minoans self determined as. It really saddens me that Evans reimagined the original artwork but archaeology over a hundred years ago was a bit mental. The fact that you've brought the inaccuracies due to reconstructive efforts to light has informed me. I thank you for that - it is of utmost importance that we make inferences based on accurate information. You taught me something - it's great to hear from a scholar such as yourself who has spent time studying Minoan Crete whereas my interpretation of skin colour of the frescoes has now been exposed as a lack of historical context. My concept of those frescoes was inclining towards a depiction of the hunter gatherer people of Europe who had dark skin. But you just disproved that has any basis of evidence. I thank you for enlightening me.

[andyhayes]

'MOST' people with imagination ( especially with a Archeological background) would come to the same conclusions when "filling in the blanks", concerning the artistic liberties taken when reconstructing the Minoan structures and art. Bottom line is that the Minoan culture was as BAD ASSED as it gets and was the foundation of what was to become GREECE and Rome and ultimately NOW

[PatriceBoivin]

ignoring what Plato wrote about Atlantis... Solon, 11k yrs, ...

[az-wrlb]

the statues @8:52 look uncannily similar to depictions of babylonian gods. There is a picture of king Ur-Nammu that looks like a duplicate of those statues

[kristianfagerstrom]

Atlantis: I remember a theory that the seed of the myth was a combined liquefaction and tsunami caused by an earthquake - that would explain the "drowned in mud" - and I saw someone propose a site where a city apparently had experienced such a combined event, but I cannot for the life of me recall who, or the site.

[Agapi-dgth]

What the italians mean by totum graecorum est?

[NoelKoutlis]

There should be a mention of the phestos disc. There are too many contradictions and assumptions. Good to know if Sandorini/Thera volcano exploded around 1600bce there had to be a huge tsunami wave wiping out much of what it was there in Crete and the fact that the place was occupied more than 20 times in modern history from a lot of foreign intruders.

[Blashswanski]

Pretty harsh on Evans. Not that he doesn't deserve most of it. It blows me away how influential his reconstructions have been. I see all these 3d renderings of the palace that basically take the northern entrance, with its columns and fresco, and extrapolate it out across the whole complex... there is no acknowledgement (or knowledge) that the top three quarters of the entrance are basically a fabrication... wishful thinking. And the fact that it was constructed to look like a ruin is just so Victorian... I'm surprised the place doesn't have its own vampire legend.

[johncater]

Not bad. Suggest you watch Bettany Hughes' educated and insightful documentary on Crete as well as ancient Greece and other places.

[williamschultz]

Sorry, but the descriptions available put Atlantis far away from Greece. In the end it will be found around the Azores as that really does match the descriptions from Egypt and Plato. You should branch out to new surrondings. Hint' Lake Vann in Turkey will be showing us how old Atlantis is as they are the ones that originated from that part of the world.. We are looking at 35-50 thousand years ago

[kimberlyboldt]

Thank you for this presentation. This is a subect I've been studying for many years. I tend to agree that Plato's description of Atlantis is the Minoan Empire on the Island of Thera (Santorini today). It fits Plato's description very well, not only the volcanic destruction and sinking into the sea, but right down to the colors they used in their building construction (red ochre, black and gold).

The figurine of the woman with the snakes in her hands is a stylized representation of the planet venus when it was close to the Earth once and wreaked havoc on the Earth (this symbol is seen all over the world). It has nothing to do with a matriarchy. The bull representations are also celestial regarding the Age of Taurus.

The Minoans started out as a peaceful and lawful society, but became corrupted over time, as many civilizations do.

Now the reason geologists and archeologists differ on dating the eruption of Thera, is because the radio carbon dating is skewed due to eruption itself, spewing tons of debris, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide into the atmoshpere. That would have been absorbed by everthing organic, thus skewing the results of any radio carbon dating.

There are two great event's described in ancient history around that time: Plato's description of the eruption and destruction of Atlantis and the Exodus described in the Bible, with its plagues resulting from that enormous eruption.

Using the Bible to date these events, we know King Solomon reigned around 1000 BCE. He talked about the Exodus ocurring 480 years earlier. That puts it around 1480 BCE. When you put the historical and archaelogical records together, you get 1480 to 1500 BCE.

The geological record is skewed. So that puts the Thera eruption around 1480 to 1500 BCE which makes sense now why all trade in the Mediterranean halted, severe destruction ocurred with sunken cities, or destroyed coastal cities by the huge tsunami. The same tsunami that wiped out Pharaoh's army in the book of Exodus. And why there was a 400 year dark age in the Greek Empire.

Just some food for thought.

[ZacharyZorbas]

Nice to hear your side. I wasn't aware of how much of Knossos is reconstruction. It's frustrating as you don't know what is real and what is fake. Evans sure did a good job with his vision as it's very attractive but also deceptive. Are the red and black column designs real? Are the gyphon designs in the throne room completely made up?

[AndreaMoletta-sc]

Wasn't Atlantis based off Helike?

[jaibhimadevi]

Since you're not afraid to address popular conception vs. reality, perhaps give your take on the evolution in interpreting Harappan sites/culture since serious work began?

Also, debunking the more outlandish claims about Gobekli Tepe wouldn't be amiss ;)

[Puzzledtraveller]

So what's your theory about who the Minoans were, culturally.