Minoan civilization same study also stated that at least three-quarters of DNA of both the Minoans and the Myceneans came from the first Neolithic-era farmers that lived in Western Anatolia and the Aegean Sea. Minoan civilization The Minoan civilization was an Aegean Bronze Age civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands which flourished from c. 2700 to c. 1450 BCE, before a late period of decline, finally ending around 1100 BC. It preceded and was absorbed by the Mycenaean civilization of ancient Greece. The civilization was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of British
Minoan religion Mochlos cemetery, for example, would have served the inhabitants of that island who settled in the south of the area. The cemetery itself has been interpreted to indicate a visible hierarchy, perhaps indicating social differentiation within the local population; larger, monumental tombs for the 'èlite', and smaller tombs, including some early "Pithoi" burials, for the larger part of the population. The German geologist Hans Georg Wunderlich argued that the Palace of Knossos itself was a mortuary temple. This interpretation is strongly rejected by mainstream archaeology. Walter Burkert warns, "To what extent one can and must differentiate between Minoan and Mycenaean