Minoan peak sanctuaries share certain topographic features. They are usually situated on or close to the summits of prominent mountains throughout Crete. Each peak sanctuary is closely associated with the surrounding settlement area, the relevant mountain being chosen for its domination of the local landscape. It is notable that the shrine sites are not always on the actual highest point of the massif, but on what appears to be the highest, most visible point from the valley below. Equally striking is the view from the sanctuary: it seems to have been important to be able to see the local settlements from the shrine itself. Significant too are the numbers of other peak sanctuaries visible from each site; perhaps this network united the country via a common peak sanctuary festival night (given the evidence for bonfires).Accepting the close association between peak sanctuaries and settlements, it is argued that the apparent decline of those sanctuaries after LM I is a decline of numbers, not of cult importance. Evidence for this is quoted from the Iouktas shrine. Further, it is suggested that the ‘Mountain Mother’ sealing from Knossos was produced as a piece of religious propaganda to justify a change of rule there.

The Minoan mountain peak sanctuary of Atsipadhes Korakias (Rethymnon, Crete) was excavated by the author in 1989. This article presents the first published account of that excavation and addresses its contribution to broader issues, methodological and interpretative, of Cretan Bronze Age religion. The spatial distribution of over 7500 finds was recorded, enabling the detailed reconstruction of the use and function of the sanctuary. This reconstruction is compared with other approaches to the identification of prehistoric cult places in Greece. Of the other excavated peak sanctuaries, the best known are élite sanctuaries associated with palatial centres; Atsipadhes Korakias is a poor, rural sanctuary, and offers a counterbalanced perspective on Minoan peak sanctuaries.

In Part I, a survey of the Minoan town at Palaikastro recording architectural features and sherd densities is presented. The survey allows for the town limits to be drawn and the probable location of the town centre to be identified. Possible approach routes are noted and an extension of the town to the Promontory and East Beach areas is examined. Part II is a report on building materials at Palaikastro and the Minoan quarries at Ta Skaria, where large quantities of calcareous sandstone were extracted. A magnetic survey of the central, unexcavated part of the site is presented in Part III. A short report on ancient remains at Kouremonos is given in Part IV. Part V is a summary of the previous parts, pointing out important results such as the evidence for ribbon development along approach routes in MM III/LM I and the likelihood that almost 1,000 cubic metres of calcareous sandstone used in ashlar masonry were extracted from the Minoan quarries but remain unaccounted for at Palaikastro. An appendix describes in full two deposits disturbed by ploughing.

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