The eleventh century BCE marks the beginning of radical changes in southern Greece generally as well as Crete specifically, largely resulting from the invasion from the North of the Dorians
[1]
Overall, however, this period is relatively poorly understood, with no written sources and few archaeological finds. Most likely, Cretans mainly dedicated themselves to farming and pastoralism. Writing disappeared and artistic expression became more abstracted and geometrical. Things started to change in the eighth century, when trade routes were revitalized, and Cretans were able to capitalize on the island’s premier location in the Eastern Mediterranean. And the trade in artefacts and products was accompanied by the exchange of new ideas and technologies.
[2]
Population and political organization
Not much is known about either the island’s population numbers at the time, or its political organization. In terms of population, very few settlements have been excavated, and none of these have yielded enough data for a credible estimate; in terms of political organization, it is likely that elite families were in charge but not much else could be said.
[2]
[1]: (Whitley 1998, 27-39) J. Whitley. 1998. ’From Minoans to Eterocretans: the Praisos region 1200-500 BC,’ in Post-Minoan Crete: Proceedings of the First Colloquium on Post-Minoan Crete held by the British School at Athens and the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 10-11 November 1995, edited by W.G. Cavanagh and M. Curtis, M. (eds), London: British School at Athens.
[2]: Kostis Christakis, pers. comm., May 2016
| none |
| Early Iron Age Greece/Geometric Greece |
| Archaic Crete |
| Succeeding: Archaic Crete (gr_crete_archaic) [continuity] | |
| UNCLEAR: [None] |
| quasi-polity |
| Year Range | Geometric Crete (gr_crete_geometric) was in: |
|---|---|
| (1000 BCE 711 BCE) | Crete |
The Geometric Crete (10th-8th centuries) is divided in the following periods: Sub-Minoan (1000-970 BCE), Protogeometric (970-850 BCE), Protogeometric B Knossian (840-810) and Geometric (810-710 BCE). The period starts with the arrival of Dorians and ends with the emergence of Cretan city-states.
Inhabitants. The largest settlement of the period is Knossos and its population is estimated to about 6,000 individuals. [1]
[1]: Whitelaw, T. 2004. "Estimating the population of Neopalatial Knossos," in Cadogan, G., Hatzaki, E. and Vasilakis, A. (eds), Knossos: Palace, City, State: Proceedings of the Conference in Herakleion organized by the British School at Athens and the 23rd Ephoreia of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of Herakleion, in November 2000, for the Centenary of Sir Arthur Evans’s Excavations at Knossos (BSA Studies 12), London, 147-58.
Km2. Not much is known about either the island’s population numbers at the time, or its political organization. In terms of population, very few settlements have been excavated, and none of these have yielded enough data for a credible estimate; in terms of political organization, it is likely that elite families were in charge but not much else could be said. [1]
[1]: Kostis Christakis, pers. comm., May 2016
People. Very few settlements have been actually been excavated and not with nearly the horizontal sample that we should need to be able to address questions of population estimates.
levels. Excavation data and survey information is very limited (especially for the 10th and 9th centuries BCE). [1] [2] [3] A large settlement was the center of a sparsely populated territory. Each regional landscape was organized for maximum exploitation of local resources and maximum security. This large center might represent the first synoecism of local population which will led to the emergence, during the late 8th and early 7th centuries BCE, of small city-states. Interdependence and economic and social cooperation between sites is assumed because of topographic isolation and shared water supplies, agricultural land, and pasture. [4]
[1]: For an overall picture on settlement hierarchies during this period see Borgne, E. 2003. "regional settlement patterns, exchange systems and sources of power in Crete at the end of the Late Bronze age: establishing a connection," SMEA 45, 153-83
[2]: Hayden, B. J. 2004. Reports on the Vrokastro Area, east Crete. Volume 2: The Settlement History of the Vrokastro Area and Related Studies (University Museum Monograph 119), 137-66
[3]: Haggis, D. C. 2005. KAVOUSI I. The Archaeological Survey of the Kavousi Region (Prehistory Monographs 16), 81-5
[4]: Haggis, D. C. 2005. KAVOUSI I. The Archaeological Survey of the Kavousi Region (Prehistory Monographs 16), 83.
levels. There is no evidence for the religious organization of Cretan communities. Members of local elite families might controlled the religious sector of the large settlements that arose in Crete during the period. During the Archaic period (710-500 BCE), religious control was exercised by the Kosmoi, a board of 3 to 10 nobles annually elected by the Ecclesia, the body of free male citizens. It is very likely that some aspects of this organization existed since the 8th century BCE. [1]
[1]: Chaniotis, A. 1897. "Κλασική και Ελληνιστική Κρήτη," in Panagiotakis, N. (ed.), Κρήτη: Ιστορία και Πολιτισμός, Heraklion, 192-207.
levels. There is no evidence for the military organization of Cretan communities. Members of local elite families might controlled the military sector of the large settlements that arose in Crete during the period. During the Archaic period (710-500 BCE), religious control was exercised by the Kosmoi, a board of 3 to 10 nobles annually elected by the Ecclesia, the body of free male citizens. It is very likely that some aspects of this organization existed since the 8th century BCE. [1]
[1]: Chaniotis, A. 1897. "Κλασική και Ελληνιστική Κρήτη," in Panagiotakis, N. (ed.), Κρήτη: Ιστορία και Πολιτισμός, Heraklion, 192-207.
levels. There is no evidence for the administrative organization of Cretan communities. Members of local elite families might controlled the administrative sector of the large settlements that arose in Crete during the period. During the Archaic period (710-500 BCE), political, military and religious control was exercised by the Kosmoi, a board of 3 to 10 nobles annually elected by the Ecclesia, the body of free male citizens. It is very likely that some aspects of this organization existed since the 8th century BCE. [1]
[1]: Chaniotis, A. 1897. "Κλασική και Ελληνιστική Κρήτη," in Panagiotakis, N. (ed.), Κρήτη: Ιστορία και Πολιτισμός, Heraklion, 192-207.
Phonetic alphabetic writing was introduced to the Greek World during the 10th or 9th century BCE when Greeks adopted the earlier Phoenician alphabet and used it to write the Greek language. [1] [2] Sound data indicates that the alphabet was first introduced and developed in Crete and not in Euboea, as some scholars had argued. [1] [3] The "Cretan theory" has fully confirmed by the recent find of a Cretan inscription at Eltyna (central Crete). [4] The Doric Cretan alphabet was very close to its Phoenician model. This alphabet was also used to express an unknown language that is believed to be the language of the Minoans that was preserved and spoken by some groups in the isolated mountainous regions of east Crete. [5]
[1]: Guarducci, M. 1953. "La culpa dell’alfabeto greco," in Γέρας Αντωνίου Κεραμοπούλλου, Athens, 342-54
[2]: Willi, A. 2005. " Κάδμος ανέθηκεν. Zur vermittlung der alphabetschrift nach Griechenland," Museum Helveticum 62, 162-71.
[3]: Guarducci, M. 1967. Epigrafia greca I, Rome, 189-81
[4]: Kritzas, X. 2010. "ΦΟΙΝΙΚΗΙΑ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΑ: Νέα αρχαϊκή επιγραφή από την Έλτυνα," in Rethemiotakis, G. and Egglezou, M. Το Γεωμετρικό Νεκροταφείο της Έλτυνας, Heraklion, 3-23.
[5]: Duhoux, Y. Les Étéocrétoise et l’origine de l’alphabet grec," Ant. Clas. 50, 287-94.
"Significantly, however, the oral transmission of the traditions of the past allowed Greek culture to survive this loss [the loss of writing] by continuing its stories and legends as valuable possesions passed down thought time. Storytelling, music, singing, and oral performances of poetry, which surely had been a part of Greek life for longer than we can trace, transmitted the most basic cultural ideas of the Greeks about themselves from generation to generation." [1]
[1]: Martin, T. R. 1996. Ancient Greece. From Prehistory to Hellenistic Times, New Haven and London, 37.
Minting in Greece was introduced around 6th century BCE. Before that period economic transactions were based on a barter system of spits, precious artifacts and metals, animals, food, and services. [1] [2]
[1]: e.g. Seaford, R. 2004. Money and the Eraly Greek Mind: Homer, Philosophy, Tragedy, Cambridge, 125-46
[2]: Tejado, R. and Guerra, G. 2012. "From barter to coins: shifting cognitive frames in Classical Greek economy," in Herrero-Soler, H. and White, A.(eds), Metaphore and Milles. Figurative Language in Business and Economics, Berlin/Boston, 27-48.
Minting in Greece was introduced around 6th century BCE. Before that period economic transactions were based on a barter system of spits, precious artifacts and metals, animals, food, and services. [1] [2]
[1]: e.g. Seaford, R. 2004. Money and the Eraly Greek Mind: Homer, Philosophy, Tragedy, Cambridge, 125-46
[2]: Tejado, R. and Guerra, G. 2012. "From barter to coins: shifting cognitive frames in Classical Greek economy," in Herrero-Soler, H. and White, A.(eds), Metaphore and Milles. Figurative Language in Business and Economics, Berlin/Boston, 27-48.
Cretans started minting around 470 BCE perhaps as a response to the reduced supple of new Aiginetan coinage. [1]
[1]: Stefanakis, M. I. 1999. "The introduction of coinage in Crete and the beginning of local minting," in Chaniotos, A. (ed.), From Minoan Farmers to Roman Traders. Sidelights on the Economy of Ancient Crete, Stuttgart, 247-68.
Epigraphic evidence from many regions of the island and archeological finds attest to the use of monetary values from at least the turn of the 6th century. The first coins to be used were the Aiginetans as result of the close relations between Aigina and the Cretan city of Kydonia (West Crete) [1]
[1]: Stefanakis, M. I. 1999. "The introduction of coinage in Crete and the beginning of local minting," in Chaniotis, A. (ed.), From Minoan Farmers to Roman Traders. Sidelights on the Economy of Ancient Crete, Stuttgart, 247-68.
Minting in Greece was introduced around 6th century BCE. Before that period economic transactions were based on a barter system of spits, precious artifacts and metals, animals, food, and services. [1] [2]
[1]: e.g. Seaford, R. 2004. Money and the Eraly Greek Mind: Homer, Philosophy, Tragedy, Cambridge, 125-46
[2]: Tejado, R. and Guerra, G. 2012. "From barter to coins: shifting cognitive frames in Classical Greek economy," in Herrero-Soler, H. and White, A.(eds), Metaphore and Milles. Figurative Language in Business and Economics, Berlin/Boston, 27-48.