Sacred caves and

peak sanctuaries Minoan peak sanctuaries are widespread throughout the island of Crete (Greece). Most scholars agree that peak sanctuaries were used for religious rites. In all peak sanctuaries human and animal clay figurines have been found. Clay body parts, als ...

are characteristic holy places of 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 ...

Crete. Most scholars agree that sacred caves were used by the Minoans for religious rites, and some for burial. While all peak sanctuaries have clay human figurines, only Idaeon, Trapeza and

Psychro Psychro Cave ( el, Σπήλαιο Ψυχρού) is an ancient Minoan sacred cave in Lasithi plateau in the Lasithi district of eastern Crete. Psychro is associated with the Diktaean Cave ( el, link=no, Δικταῖον Ἄντρον; ''Diktaio ...

have them among the sacred caves. Clay body parts, also called

votive A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

body parts, common among

, appear in no caves with the exception of a bronze leg in Psychro. One author, Tyree (1974), restricts "sacred caves" to those with architectural additions such as "paved areas, partition walls, and low walls surrounding

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling") is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically ...

s", as well as the presence (upon excavation) of "cult implements" of various kinds. Egg with gold, Cave of Kamares, ca 1900-1700 BC, AMH, 0502057

Some were "burial caves", used in the Neolithic and

Early 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 ...

periods as secondary burial sites for a community. It is thought that the primary burial site was probably a ''tholos''

beehive tomb A beehive tomb, also known as a tholos tomb (plural tholoi; from Greek θολωτός τάφος, θολωτοί τάφοι, "domed tombs"), is a burial structure characterized by its false dome created by corbelling, the superposition of suc ...

in the area, from which remains were moved into the cave after a period. Whether this usage overlapped with usage for religious cult, or whether the two phases were distinct, is uncertain and a matter of discussion.INSTAP, 1-3

List of sacred caves

Arkalochori Arkalochori ( el, Αρκαλοχώρι) is a town and a former municipality in the Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Minoa Pediada, of which it is a municipal unit. The mu ...

Hagios Charalambos ''Agios'' ( el, Άγιος), plural ''Agioi'' (), transcribes masculine gender Greek words meaning 'sacred' or ' saint' (for example Agios Dimitrios, Agioi Anargyroi). It is frequently shortened in colloquial language to ''Ai'' (for example Ai ...

- burial cave * Inatos * Kamares, where

Kamares ware Kamares ware is a distinctive type of Minoan pottery produced in Crete during the Minoan period, dating to MM IA (ca. 2100 BCE). By the LM IA period (ca. 1450), or the end of the First Palace Period, these wares decline in distribution and "vitali ...

was first found * Mameloukou * Phaneromeni * Skotino *

Stravomyti Stravomyti Cave is an ancient Minoan cave on Crete. Geography The Stravomyti Cave is 400 meters above sea level on Mt. Juktas' southwest slope. Archaeology The Stravomyti Cave first saw use during Neolithic times, as a refuge and burial. Durin ...

Notes

References

* Jones, Donald W. 1999 ''Peak Sanctuaries and Sacred Caves of Minoan Crete'' * "INSTAP": Louise C. Langford-Verstegen, Costis Davaras, Eleni Stravopodi, ''Hagios Charalambos: A Minoan Burial Cave in Crete: II, The Pottery'', 2016, INSTAP Academic Press,
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Minoan religion Caves of Greece Landforms of Crete

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

Minoan sites in Crete {{Crete-geo-stub