Labyrinth Revisited : Rethinking `Minoan' Archaeology

"Minoan" Crete is one of the most intensively investigated archaeological cultures in the world.

It is a Bronze Age Aegean society, but it has been intimately connected with the Classical Greek myth of King Minos and his Labyrinth since Sir Arthur Evans excavated and restored (some would say "rebuilt") the important site of Knossos, more than a century ago.

Yet many archaeological interpretations of this culture are still largely traditional in focus and often anachronistic.This collection of papers, challenges and re-examines many conventional and established versions of "Minoan" history.

How have modern preconceptions and socio-political developments shaped archaeological interpretations of "Minoan" society?

What were the gender roles and attitudes of the inhabitants of Bronze Age Crete?

How can data such as the puzzling architecture, the wall-paintings, the elaborate pots, the landscape and the way it is perceived by humans, help us understand the nature and the negotiations of power and the role of the so-called palaces?These are just some of the questions that this book addresses, considering "Minoan" culture from a variety of interpretative angles, and situating "Minoan" archaeology in the mainstream of archaeological thinking and practice.