THE IMPACT OF CYCLADIC SETTLERS ON EARLY MINOAN CRETE

Abstract

Substantial evidence exists for Cycladic influence in Crete during the Early Bronze Age. This evidence ranges from what must be actua Cycladic settlements on Cretan soil as at Hagia Photia, to imported Cycadic objects, to Cretan items that have various degrees of Cycladic influence. The Cycladic presence begins in Early Minoan I, when we know both of settlements whose character is almost exclusively Cycladic and of many imports of Cycladic objects. By Early Minoan I to IⅢI, the Cycladic presence is no longer within separate settlements, but within towns which are primarily Minoan (as, for example,at Archanes where most of the Phourni cemetery is Minoan but where one section betrays a strong Cycladic presence). Cycladic traditions exerted important influences on the formative periods of Minoan culture in many areas, including artifact classes, technological knowledge, and abstract concepts.