What is Knossos?
[[File:Knossos - North Portico 02.jpg|thumb|right|250px|North Entrance (restored) with charging bull fresco]] [[File:Crete integrated map-en.svg|thumb|right|285px|[[Crete]], showing [[Heraklion]]]] '''Knossos''' is a [[Bronze Age]] [[archaeological site]] on the [[island]] of [[Crete]]. It is at modern [[Heraklion]]. It may be [[Europe]]'s oldest city.<ref>Whitelaw, Todd 2000. ''Beyond the palace: a century of investigation at Europe's oldest city''. Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies: 223, 226.</ref> Many [[Roman]] [[coins]] found on the site had 'Knosion' or 'Knos' on one side, and an image of a [[Minotaur]] or [[Labyrinth]] on the reverse. These are [[symbols]] from the [[myth]] of King [[Minos]], supposed to have reigned at Knossos.<ref>Gere, Cathy 2009. ''Knossos and the prophets of modernism''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 25. {{ISBN|0226289540}}</ref> The excavations at Knossos began in 1900 by the English [[archaeologist]] Sir [[:en:Arthur_Evans|Arthur Evans]] (1851–1941) and his team. They worked there for 35 years. The [[palace]] was excavated and partly restored. It was large. The team discovered two ancient [[writing system|scripts]], called [[Linear A]] and [[Linear B]]. From the layering of the palace, Evans developed an idea of the [[civilization]] that used it, which he called [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]]. The palace was built over a previous [[Neolithic]] town. During the Bronze Age, the town surrounded the hill on which the palace was built. The palace was abandoned at some unknown time at the end of the late Bronze Age, c. 1380–1100 BC, for reasons which are not known. == References == {{reflist}} {{-}} {{geo-stub}} [[Category:Islands of Greece]] [[Category:Archaeological sites in Europe]]