Recent research into Minoan extra-urban sanctuaries

Extract

In keeping with the new format of Archaeological Reports, this contribution takes a thematic approach. It seeks to draw wider attention to some of the diverse new primary research that has taken place since 2000 on Minoan (here glossed as Proto- and Neopalatial) extra-urban sanctuaries. For many years, discussion of these sites has largely involved synthesis. No example of a Minoan extra-urban sanctuary has ever progressed all the way from systematic excavation to full publication. Some of the best reported examples, such as the Psychro Cave (Watrous 1996) or the peak sanctuary of Petsophas (Rutkowski 1991), were excavated at the beginning of the 20^th century. Until the period covered by this review, there were only one or two cases where sites excavated more recently had benefited from extended preliminary publications. This has meant that synthetic treatments have been highly dependent, in the majority of cases, on extremely brief notices of excavations or on scholars' impressions from simply visiting sites. The last 15 years have witnessed a marked change of pace. New sites have been discovered and excavated, extensive studies of old material have been produced and, most importantly, the first comprehensive studies of some of the assemblages of objects from these sites have come into the public domain. As a result, this is an opportune time to highlight a dynamically evolving field of research.