Appetitive: Minoan Archaeology

From Wikimedia Commons.

The newest In Our Time podcast is on the Minoans. Melvyn Bragg gathers a group of scholars to discuss Minoan archaeology and culture. I am acquainted with Minoan archaeology, but I have not studied it in depth. I know enough to admire the beautiful murals, many of which depict sea life (being primarily an island people) and their interesting fashion sense (half-full skirts, tiny waists, and very low necklines) and that they held snakes and bulls in some significance, but I know little beyond that. The podcast was great. The scholars provided a basic understanding and some interesting insights. For example, I always assumed that Minoan palace culture implied a traditional monarchical hierarchy, but one of the scholars argued that the art and archaeological evidence does not support this claim and the "palaces" may have been more of religious or civic centers that did not require a king or queen.

Appetitive: Octopus=Awesome (Cerinthus Reports)

This was originally featured on Fragments of Sulpicia III, but I updated it and have reposted it here. Enjoy, once again, this awesome jar.

Sulpicia Asks: Could you send me some awesome photos.

Cerninthus Answers: Look! An octopus!
(Just kidding. Cerinthus actually responded by sending 93 incredible photos from Crete but this one is totally my favorite)

 This is Minoan. Other than that I don't know. I think Cerinthus saw it in a museum on Crete. More information forthcoming.

Update (09/14/10):

This is known as the "Octopus Jar" and is from the late Minoan period. The Stanford Humanities lab website says: 

"At the end of the Middle Minoan era the Kamares style has been relegated to background and a new style stealing from wall paintings of this period was developed. This new style delt mainly with vivid representation of human and animal figures in dark colors on light colored clay. This trend of naturalism is extreamly short lived however. The return to the formulated decorative patterns and stylized plant forms returns and is the basis for future styles."

This jar was made circa 1500 BCE found at the palace at Knossos and now sits in the Herakleion Museam, Crete (Saskatewan University).