What technology did the Minoans use?

In the Minoan Crete various fundamental technologies such as aqueducts, wells, cisterns, and closed water distribution systems for water supply to the “palaces”, cities and villages were very well developed, as did techniques relevant to the recreational use of water.

What are the technological tools or instruments developed by the Minoans?

Overall, the Minoans had to invent many metalworking techniques like lost-wax, nielo, and granulation in order to achieve the diverse range of items they produced. Later Greeks would use these same techniques to create the first monumental bronze sculptures in Western history.

What did the Minoans produce?

Besides timber Crete exported food, cypress wood, wine, currants, olive oil, wool, cloth, herbs, and purple dye. Its imports consisted of precious stones, copper (most likely from Cyprus), ivory, silver, gold, and other raw material. They also imported tin that was used in the production of bronze alloys.

What crops did the Minoans grow?

The Minoans raised cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, and grew wheat, barley, vetch and chickpeas. They also cultivated grapes, figs and olives, grew poppies for seed and perhaps opium. The Minoans also domesticated bees.

What is Minoan architecture?

Minoan architecture consists of several structures which acted as centers for commercial, religious, and administrative life. Archaeologist have unearthed in Crete a Minoan landscape filled with tombs, palaces, villas, towns and the roads that connected them.

Why is Minoan civilization important?

The Minoans have an important place in world history, as building the first civilization to appear on European soil. Minoan civilization emerged around 2000 BCE, and lasted until 1400 BCE. The Minoans were famous for the magnificent palaces they built, above all at Knossos.

Which contribution of the Minoans is important in the present time why?

With their unique art and architecture, and the spread of their ideas through contact with other cultures across the Aegean, the Minoans made a significant contribution to the development of Western European civilization.

How were Minoan frescoes made?

While the Egyptian painters of the time painted their wall paintings in the “dry-fresco” (fresco secco) technique, the Minoans utilized a “true” or “wet” painting method. Painting on wet plaster allowed the pigments of metal and mineral oxides to bind well to the wall, while it required quick execution.

What were the Minoan palaces used for?

The Minoans began building palaces around 1900 BC to act as cultural, religious, administrative, and commercial centers for their increasingly expanding society. The Minoan palaces provided a forum for gathering and celebrations, while at the same time they offered storage for the crops, and workshops for the artists.

What are Minoan frescoes?

Minoan Frescoes The Minoans decorated their palaces with true fresco painting (buon fresco), that is, the painting of colour pigments on wet lime plaster without a binding agent so that when the paint is absorbed by the plaster it is fixed and protected from fading.

What type of people are the Minoans?

Minoan, Any member of a non-Indo-European people who flourished (c. 3000–c. 1100 bc) on the island of Crete during the Bronze Age. The sea was the basis of their economy and power.