Apodoulou ( el, Αποδούλου) is the archaeological site of an ancient

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...

mansion or ceremonial building.

Geography

Apodoulou overlooks the

Libyan Sea The Libyan Sea ( Greek , Latin ''Libycum Mare'', Arabic البحر الليبي) is the portion of the Mediterranean Sea north of the African coast of ancient ''Libya'', i.e. Cyrenaica, and Marmarica (the coast of what is now eastern Libya ...

. Altitude: 450m above sea level

Archaeology

Apodoulou was first excavated by

Spyridon Marinatos Spyridon Nikolaou Marinatos ( el, Σπυρίδων Νικολάου Μαρινάτος; November 4, 1901 – October 1, 1974) was a Greek archaeologist, best known for leading excavations at Akrotiri on Santorini (1967–74), where he died and i ...

in 1934. The area was inhabited from Late

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

times to the

Late Minoan The Minoan chronology dating system is a measure of the phases of the Minoan civilization. Initially established as a relative dating system by English archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans between 1900 and 1903 based on his analysis of Minoan pottery ...

period, and the building was in use in the Middle Minoan III period. The site has yielded

Linear A Linear A is a writing system that was used by the Minoans of Crete from 1800 to 1450 BC to write the hypothesized Minoan language or languages. Linear A was the primary script used in palace and religious writings of the Minoan civi ...

inscriptions on a basin and fragments of a stone cylindrical jar, as well as a small golden axe. 400m north of Apodoulou is a Late Minoan vaulted tomb. Four sarcophagus were found here and are on exhibit at the Archaeological Museum of Rethymno.

References

* Swindale, Ian http://www.minoancrete.com/apodoulou.htm Retrieved 31 January 2006 * Municipality of Agia Galini http://www.interkriti.org/visits/agalini/apodoul.htm Retrieved 31 January 2006

External links

* http://www.minoancrete.com/apodoulou.htm Minoan sites in Crete Ancient houses in Greece Populated places in Rethymno (regional unit) {{Crete-geo-stub