Anemospilia is the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan temple on Crete. Map of Minoan Crete The Minoans were a pre-Hellenic Bronze Age civilization in Crete in the Aegean Sea, prior to Helladic or Mycenaean culture (i. ... Crete (Greek Κρήτη / Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. ...

Geography

The temple is located on the northern end of Mount Juktas. Modern Heraklion can be seen from the site. Mount Juktas A mountain in North Central Crete, Mount Juktas (also spelled Iuktas, Iouktas, and a variety of others due to translation from Greek) was an important religious site for the Minoan Civilization. ... Morozini Fountain on Venizelou square in Heraklion, Crete, built in 1628 Heraklion or Iraklion (Greek: Ηράκλειο), Greece is the largest city and the capital of Crete. ...

Archaeology

Anemospilia was first excavated in 1979 by J. Sakellarias.

The temple has no parallel in any other discovered Minoan or Mycenaean sites. It is far more symmetrical and less labyrinthine than contemporary buildings. Mycenaean can have the following meanings: coming from or belonging to the ancient town of Mycenae in Pelloponese in Greece; belonging to the culture of the Mycenaean period of the eastern Mediterranean in the late Bronze Age; the Mycenaean language, an ancient form of Greek, known from inscriptions in Linear...

Pottery from the site confirms use during Middle Minoan II and Middle Minoan IIIA. Minoan pottery is more than a useful tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. ... Minoan pottery is more than a useful tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. ...

Anemospilia was destroyed around 1600BCE, probably by earthquake. The skeleton of a man, by the position of its body, suggests that he was running from the temple at the time of the destruction. He was holding a vase. (Redirected from 1600 BC) Centuries: 18th century BC - 17th century BC - 16th century BC Decades: 1650s BC 1640s BC 1630s BC 1620s BC 1610s BC - 1600s BC - 1590s BC 1580s BC 1570s BC 1560s BC 1550s BC Events and trends Egypt: End of Fourteenth Dynasty The creation of one of...

The antechamber of the temple yielded tripod cooking pots, mortars and pestles, vases and pithoi.

A central room was filled with vases. A stone bench lined the south wall. Larger-than-human clay feet and ash remains of what was probably a wooden statue.

The eastern room of the temple contains a stepped altar. Large bowls were placed on the altar, and evidence from other sites indicates that these were used for agricultural offerings.

The temple's western room yields evidence indicating that it was used for human sacrifice. Three skeletons were found. The skeleton of a man was found lying on an altar, a knife at his chest, with his feet tied. The skeletons of a man and a woman were also in the room, and were killed by earthquake and/or fire.

Reference

• Swindale, Ian "Anemospilia" Retrieved 11 Feb 2006

Further Reading

• Sakellarakis, J. and E. Crete, Archanes ISBN 960-213-234-5 (Guidebook)

External links

• http://www.uk.digiserve.com/mentor/minoan/anemospilia.htm