Petras
Encyclopedia
Petras is the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan
town on northeastern Crete
.
The main building, which was two stories when it stood, is 2800 square meters.
Petras has a drainage system, double staircases, dadoes, frescoes and cut slab pavements. Marks appear on the architecture of double axes, stars, branches, double triangles and Linear A
signs. Petras has yielded only one Linear A
tablet from its archives so far, but a hieroglyphic archive was excavated in 1995 and 1996.
The central building shares many of the features that are used to identify a Minoan
palace apart from a regular building: pier and door partitions, alternating columns and pillars, and ashlar masonry.
Additions and building modifications were occurring as late as Late Minoan IB
.
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
town on northeastern Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
.
Geography
Petras is just east of the modern Cretan town, Siteia. The site is situated on top of a small plateau and overlooks the sea north of Crete.Archaeology
Metaxia Tsipopoulou began excavations at Petras in 1985.The main building, which was two stories when it stood, is 2800 square meters.
Petras has a drainage system, double staircases, dadoes, frescoes and cut slab pavements. Marks appear on the architecture of double axes, stars, branches, double triangles and Linear A
Linear A
Linear A is one of two scripts used in ancient Crete before Mycenaean Greek Linear B; Cretan hieroglyphs is the second script. In Minoan times, before the Mycenaean Greek dominion, Linear A was the official script for the palaces and religious activities, and hieroglyphs were mainly used on seals....
signs. Petras has yielded only one Linear A
Linear A
Linear A is one of two scripts used in ancient Crete before Mycenaean Greek Linear B; Cretan hieroglyphs is the second script. In Minoan times, before the Mycenaean Greek dominion, Linear A was the official script for the palaces and religious activities, and hieroglyphs were mainly used on seals....
tablet from its archives so far, but a hieroglyphic archive was excavated in 1995 and 1996.
The central building shares many of the features that are used to identify a Minoan
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
palace apart from a regular building: pier and door partitions, alternating columns and pillars, and ashlar masonry.
Additions and building modifications were occurring as late as Late Minoan IB
Minoan pottery
Minoan pottery is more than a useful tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. Its restless sequence of rapidly maturing artistic styles reveal something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists to assign relative dates to the strata of their sites...
.