Dating Minoan Finds - Finding Minoan Dates

Various authors and researchers use different timetables and names for various periods in the history of the Minoan culture. If, for example, you encounter terms like Early, Middle or Late Minoan, those references are usually based on the detailed time-scale used by Sir Arthur John Evans (1851-1941), the archaeologist who excavated (and restored) the palace at Knossos. He subdivided these three major phases, divisions often referred to by abbreviations such as EM I, MM IIIB and so on.

Terms such as Pre-, Proto-, Neo- or Postpalatial indicate the more simple division put forward by Professor Nikolas E. Platon (1909-1992). However, many more historians have attempted to improve both these time-scales, and to see what a complete mess this has created one only has to look at the Wikipedia page called Minoan Chronology.

Further complications arise from the fact that not everyone quotes either Evans or Platon the right way, and that the dating of Minoan finds is still ongoing.

What I offer below is a simplified scheme that should be sufficient for most of us without professional, scientific interest.

A Simple Chronology of Minoan Civilization

Name of Period	Abbreviation	From - To	Era
Prepalatial (Pre-palace) Period		3500 - 2000	BCE
Early Minoan 1	EM I	3500 - 3000	BCE
Early Minoan 2	EM II	3000 - 2200	BCE
Early Minoan 2	EM III	2200 - 2100	BCE
Middle Minoan 1a	MM IA	2100 - 2000	BCE
Protopalatial (Old Palace) Period		2000 - 1600	BCE
Middle Minoan 1b	MMIB	2000 - 1900	BCE
Middle Minoan 2	MMII	1900 - 1700	BCE
Middle Minoan 3a	MMIIIA	1700 - 1640	BCE
Middle Minoan 3b	MMIIIB	1640 - 1600	BCE
Neopalatial (New Palace) Period		1600 - 1390	BCE
Late Minoan 1a	LMIA	1600 - 1480	BCE
Late Minoan 1b	LMIB	1480 - 1425	BCE
Late Minoan 2	LMII	1425 - 1390	BCE
Late Minoan 3a.1	LMIIIA1	1390 - 1360	BCE
Postpalatial Period		1390 - 1070	BCE
Late Minoan 3a.2	LMIIIA2	1360 - 1340	BCE
Late Minoan 3b	LMIIIB	1340 - 1190	BCE
Late Minoan 3c	LMIIIC	1190 - 1100	BCE
Sub-Minoan		1100 - 1000	BCE

A time will certainly come when most of this chronology will have to be revised, not only because the eruption of Thera (Santorini) has now been dated to around 1600/1629 BCE instead of 1450 BCE, but also because more and more digs yield new Minoan cities and artefacts, possibly even more palaces in addition to the completed (but not yet open to the public) excavation of the fifth palace (30 km south of Heraklion) near Galatas and Arkalochori - in other words: not that far from Knossos and Mallia stood another Minoan palace.

Also, it is clear by now that also Western Crete has had (at least one) Minoan palace. But unfortunately, ancient Kydonia is buried below modern Chania, and you can't remove a modern city with 100.000 inhabitants just for archaeological research and in order to have another theme-park to shore up tourism.
And then there is Aptera, of course. There is no Minoan item to be found on the hill (as yet), but the old suburbs of the large and once famous city (present Stylos, Neo Chorio, Armeni) do have small Minoan digs that hint at more to come.

Readers not acquainted with the notation BCE, please read this note.