Gouves, Greece and partially restored Knossos in the early 20th century. A more comprehensive exploration was done by French and Greek archaeologists in the 1960s. They found a considerable number of bronze and ceramic votive offerings, the oldest of them dating from the earliest Minoan periods, suggesting the cave was an important sacred shrine dedicated to a female fertility deity, presumably Britomartis. The cave was still used in Classical Greek and Roman eras, when the fertility goddess Artemis or her Roman equivalent Diana replaced the Minoan deity. Gouves, Greece Gouves () is a town and former municipality in the Heraklion regional unit,
Artemis Artemis Artemis (; Artemis, ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals and chastity. Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the patron and protector of young girls, and was believed to bring disease upon women and relieve them of it. In later Hellenistic times, she even assumed the role of Eileithyia in aiding women during childbirth. Much like Athena and Hestia, Artemis preferred to remain a maiden and is sworn never to marry. Artemis was one of the most widely