The Topography of Minoan Peak Sanctuaries

Abstract

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.

‘Figures in 3D’: Digital Perspectives on Cretan Bronze Age Figurines

“…While more than 50 sites have, at various times, been claimed as peak sanctuaries, a smaller number (between 25-30) can be more confidently identified on the combined criteria of topography and portable finds (Peatfield, 1990(Peatfield, , 2009Nowicki, 2007). Thousands of terracotta figurines were brought to these ritual sites and there deposited as votive offerings during the Minoan palatial periods (the second millennium BC).…”

“…The report describes the discovery of clay figurines "of men and women, legs, arms and other parts of the human body, and an enormous number of animals, some thousands in all" (Bosanquet et al, 1902-3, p. 276). This served to establish that a key criterion for the identification of a peak sanctuary, alongside inter-visibility with its local community and their settlements, is the presence of substantial numbers of clay figurines (Peatfield, 1983(Peatfield, , 1990. Other excavated sites, such as Iuktas, Vrysinas, Traostalos and Atsipadhes, have also yielded thousands of figurines, a veritable terracotta crowd.…”

Turlough Hill – Place-making and Mountains in Prehistoric Ireland

“…In some contexts, such as the Minoan Peak sanctuaries in Crete, the summit of a mountain has been used for rituals and buildings linked to them (Peatfield, 2007). The verticality of the mountain is the focus.…”

The Historiography of Landscape Research on Crete

“…PK's can also be a significant interpretative tool for the study of the society at the time and they have been related to an ideological expansion of regional centres, but also to palatial economic expansion and control of large pasturelands 1 . Rural PK's are seen as local sacred places which seem to go out of use in Neopalatial times, whereas the ones linked to regional centres, continue and prosper (Peatfield 1983). In Siteia, many form a group around Petsofas which was the first and most important Peak Sanctuary above the flourishing town of Palaikastro.…”