OVERSEAS CONNECTIONS OF KNOSSOS AND CRETE IN THE SIXTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES BC: INSIGHTS FROM THE UNEXPLORED MANSION

Abstract

In relation to previous periods, Archaic and Classical Crete presents a contraction in the material record and the evidence for overseas connections. This phenomenon has attracted wide-ranging attention in the scholarship, much of which focuses upon the major Cretan city of Knossos. The present article reviews the evidence from Knossos which suggests a decline in overseas connections and revisits the problem in the light of Archaic and Classical pottery from abroad found at the settlement site of the ‘Unexplored Mansion’. On the basis of these finds, I argue that the impression of decline has been exaggerated, and has been partly shaped by methodological problems in the study of ceramics.