What Happened to the Minoans After the Bronze Age?

The Minoans were a famously rich and powerful naval civilization that practically ruled the waters of the Aegean Sea for centuries in the Bronze Age. However, they were essentially gone from the world scene after the end of that era. What happened to the Minoans after the end of the Bronze Age? When did they disappear?

How the Minoans fell from power during the Bronze Age

The disappearance of the Minoans was a very gradual process. In the sixteenth century BCE, at the height of their civilisation, the volcanic island of Thera (Santorini) erupted. This eruption wiped out the Minoan settlements on that island and caused a tsunami that struck the north coast of Crete, the Minoans’ main island.

Almost certainly as a result of this, the Minoans entered into a period of conflict with the Mycenaean Greeks. It appears that the latter took advantage of the Minoans’ weakened state.

The Mycenaean Greeks had taken over Minoan Crete by 1450 BCE, essentially destroying all the power centers. Nevertheless, even after the Greeks came to dominate Crete, the Minoans still existed. The Greeks did not wipe them out.

According to many modern sources, the end of the Minoan civilisation can be placed in c. 1100 BCE, about a century after the end of the Bronze Age. Supposedly, that is when the Minoans completely disappeared.

The archaeology of the Minoans after the Bronze Age

In reality, the Minoans did not disappear in c. 1100 BCE. Archaeological research shows clearly that the Minoans continued to exist as a distinct culture on Crete for quite some time after the end of the Bronze Age.

This continued existence is ingrained into the way that archaeologists divide the Minoan chronology. The fall of the Minoans to the Mycenaean Greeks occurred in an era called Late Minoan IB. Late Minoan II followed, with Late Minoan III lasting until c. 1075 BCE.

However, despite the way that some modern sources present this chronological scheme, Late Minoan III is not the end of Minoan chronology. The distinct Subminoan period directly followed it. This latter phase followed Late Minoan III so directly that some scholars believe that Subminoan I should be considered part of Late Minoan IIIC.

In any case, Subminoan II denotes the period in the 11th century BCE between Late Minoan III and the Protogeometric era, dated to approximately 1025 BCE. According to some scholars, this Subminoan period continued partway into the Protogeometric era, until as late as c. 970 BCE.

The Minoans of Iron Age Greece

Of course, pottery styles are not the same as an ethnic group. Nevertheless, the presence of a continued distinct style of pottery shows direct continuity from the Minoan culture, indicating that the Minoans did continue to exist as a people, despite Crete being overwhelmingly Greek by the tenth century BCE.

Ancient Greek historical sources support the evidence of the Minoans continuing to exist as a distinct people long after the Bronze Age. For example, we find a description of Crete in Homer’s epic poem from the seventh century BCE, The Odyssey. It reads:

“There is a certain land, Crete, in the middle of the wine-dark sea, a fine and rich land, sea-girt, in which are many men, countless men, and ninety cities, and one language is mixed with another. There are Achaeans in it, great-hearted Eteocretans in it, Cydonians in it, streaming-haired Dorians, and divine Pelasgians.”

This passage mentions the Eteocretans among the inhabitants of Crete in the Iron Age. The term ‘Eteocretans’ translates to ‘true Cretans’. Other sources, such as the first-century CE geographer Strabo, referred to the Eteocretans as the native inhabitants of Crete.

Therefore, it is very likely that the Eteocretans were the Minoans. If so, this would confirm that the Minoans continued to exist as a distinct people long after the Bronze Age.

Evidence that the Eteocretans were the Minoans

Further support for the idea that the Eteocretans were the Minoans, beyond simply the reference to them as the native inhabitants of Crete, is the fact that they spoke a non-Greek language.

Strabo connected the Eteocretans specifically to Praisos, which is on the eastern end of the island. Interestingly, it is in precisely this area where archaeologists have found three Iron Age inscriptions written in a non-Greek language.

Given the correspondence between the location of these inscriptions and the attested location of the non-Greek Eteocretans, historians generally accept these inscriptions as being in the Eteocretan language. Unfortunately, neither this nor the Minoan language has been deciphered, so we cannot directly compare them.

Nevertheless, the fact that the Eteocretans spoke a non-Greek language supports their identification as Minoans, who also spoke a non-Greek language.

How the Minoans became the Eteocretans

Archaeological evidence in the area of Praisos provides strong support for the notion that the Minoans became the Eteocretans after the Bronze Age. Archaeologists have uncovered extensive evidence of Minoan activity in the final two-thirds (phases B and C) of the Late Minoan III period in the general region of Praisos.

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The evidence in question includes Minoan tombs and a large settlement built with walls in the Minoan style. This settlement near Praisos dates to Late Minoan IIIC, or approximately the first part of the 11th century BCE. In other words, this was a post-Bronze Age Minoan settlement.

Interestingly, this has been described as an apparent ‘refugee settlement’. The Minoans established it after the Minoan towns of eastern Crete had been abandoned, but before there was any major constructed work at Praisos itself.

It appears that this large Minoan refugee settlement was abandoned in c. 900 BCE. Then, we find evidence of occupation at nearby Praisos itself shortly afterwards. As already noted, the non-Greek Eteocretan inscriptions appear in Praisos within the next few centuries after that.

The archaeological evidence does not provide a perfect display of continuity from the Minoans to the Eteocretans. Nevertheless, the evidence that we do have is sufficient to conclude that the Minoans probably did become the Eteocretans after the Bronze Age.

The Minoans abandoned their towns in eastern Crete towards the end of the Bronze Age, perhaps due to pressure from the Greeks. They established a large settlement near the eastern tip of the island, just 2km (1.24 miles) from Praisos, in the 11th century BCE. The Minoans then abandoned this after nearly 200 years of occupation and likely went on to found Praisos. There, they became the Eteocretans.