Minoan civilization palace like Knossos for their own use. Several authors have noted evidence that Minoan civilization had exceeded its environmental carrying capacity, with archaeological recovery at Knossos indicating deforestation in the region near the civilization's later stages. A 2013 archeogenetics study compared skeletal mtDNA from ancient Minoan skeletons that were sealed in a cave in the Lasithi Plateau between 3,700 and 4,400 years ago, to 135 samples from Greece, Anatolia, western and northern Europe, North Africa and Egypt. The researchers found that the Minoan skeletons were genetically very similar to modern-day Europeans — and especially close to modern-day Cretans, particularly those
Minoan Flying Dolphins Minoan Flying Dolphins Minoan Flying Dolphins (MFD) was a Greek passenger and freight ferry company. MFD was established in 1998 by Pantelis Sfinias () as a subsidiary of Minoan Lines. Sfinias had convinced many prominent Greek businessmen to purchase stakes in MFD. His plan was to use the raised capital for purchasing small traditional ferry companies and eventually consolidate the Greek ferry industry. MFD's first acquisition was "Ceres Flying Dolphins" owned by the Livanos family, a hydrofoils company active in the Argo-Saronic Gulf and the Sporades islands. Within a few months, MFD grew rapidly through a barrage of buyouts that