The Uneven and Controversial Character of ‘Minoan’ Culture in the Central and Eastern Aegean: A Contextual Analysis

Minoan culture, long perceived as a unified and centralized phenomenon originating from Crete, is revealed to be far more complex and heterogeneous. This study challenges the notion of a cohesive 'core' by demonstrating that Minoanisation—defined as the adoption of Cretan material culture traits beyond Crete during the Late Bronze Age (LBA)—was a multi-sited, multi-directional process with no uniform distribution or political control. While Knossos played a leading role in legitimizing territorial expansion and promoting ideological propaganda during the Neopalatial period (LM IA–IB), palatial Crete itself was a composite political landscape characterized by gradual hierarchization and formalization in its systems. The research employs case studies from the Cycladic islands, south-east, and north-east Aegean to analyze ceramic production, mobility of people and ideas, and ritual behaviors, highlighting the uneven and controversial nature of Minoan culture across the Aegean.

Girella, L. (2026). The Uneven and Controversial Character of ‘Minoan’ Culture in the Central and Eastern Aegean: A Contextual Analysis. Pax Minoica Revisited, 81–104. https://doi.org/10.13173/9783447123273.081