Also shown riding on a lion or gryphon, and feeding or petting animals. Male deity also shows up, not quite as often as the goddess, but he s there. Some have proposed that it was a priestess representing the goddess who sat on the throne. Half the island is now submerged beneath the sea. The excavation of Akrotiri are still ongoing, but one of the buildings seems to have been used for an initiation ritual of young girls.
Upper register shows a seated goddess , flanked by a gryphon and a monkey.
The monkey is offering the flowers gathered by the girls, thereby acting as an intermediary between the mortal and divine realms. These Crocus gatherers are to left of the scene in the top register . The lower register depicts an adolescent girl in the center with a bloody foot . The Horns of Consecration with blood dripping on them is found to the left of the lower register. This ritual was supposed to symbolize their passing into adulthood.