A Taurus Map on a Minoan Vase?

Abstract

During the excavation of a shrine at Anemospilia on Crete in 1979, an important, richly decorated vase was discovered, like that appearing on the sarcophagus of Aghia Triada to be used for the collection of the blood of the sacrificed bull. The vase was dated to the Middle Minoan period (around 1700 B.C.) The central motif of the decoration of the vase is a plastic bull painted off-white, with a pattern of red round spots scattered over its body. The whole decoration was considered by the excavators and other investigators, as a "speaking symbol"of a bull sacrifice. In this article we suggest that the pattern of round spots could be considered as a map of the Taurus constellation, the oldest one known in the Aegean; moreover, that the whole decoration refers to the Spring, when the vernal equinox was located in Taurus in Minoan times. We also suggest that the beginning of the year would be fixed following this equinox.