page_title: Minoan civilization
section_title: Minoan women
hierarchical_section_title: Minoan civilization / Minoan women
caption_attribution_description: English: A fresco from the palace of Knossos, made 1500 BCE
context_page_description: The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, flourishing from c. 3000 BC to c. 1450 BC until a late period of decline, finally ending around 1100 BC. It represents the first advanced civilization in Europe, leaving behind massive building complexes, tools, artwork, writing systems, and a massive network of trade. The civilization was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans. The name "Minoan" derives from the mythical King Minos and was coined by Evans, who identified the site at Knossos with the labyrinth and the Minotaur. The Minoan civilization has been described as the earliest of its kind in Europe, and historian Will Durant called the Minoans "the first link in the European chain".
  The Minoan civilization is particularly notable for its large and elaborate palaces up to four stories high, featuring elaborate plumbing systems and decorated with frescoes. The most notable Minoan palace is that of Knossos, followed by that of Phaistos.
context_section_description: As Linear A, Minoan writing, has not been decoded yet, almost all information available about Minoan women is from various art forms. Most importantly, women are depicted in fresco art paintings within various aspects of society such as child rearing, ritual participation, and worshiping.
  Artistically, women were portrayed very differently compared to the representations of men. Most obviously, men were often artistically represented with dark skin while women were represented with lighter skin. Fresco paintings also portray three class levels of women; elite women, women of the masses, and servants. A fourth, smaller class of women are also included among some paintings; these women are those who participated in religious and sacred tasks. Evidence for these different classes of women not only comes from fresco paintings but from Linear B tablets as well. Elite women were depicted within paintings as having a stature twice the size of women in lower classes, artistically this was a way of emphasizing the important difference between the elite wealthy women and the rest of the female population within society.
  Within paintings women were also portrayed as caretakers of children, however few frescoes portray pregnant women, most artistic representations of pregnant women are in the form of sculpted pots with the rounded base of the pots representing the pregnant belly.  Additionally, no Minoan art forms portray women giving birth, breast feeding, or procreating. Lack of such actions leads historians to believe that these actions would have been recognized by Minoan society to be either sacred or inappropriate. As public art pieces such as frescoes and pots do not illustrate these acts, it can be assumed that this part of a woman's life was kept private within society as a whole.
  Not only was childbirth a private subject within Minoan society but it was a dangerous process as well. Archeological sources have found numerous bones of pregnant women, identified as pregnant by the fetus bones within their skeleton found in the abdomen area. This leads to strong evidence that death during pregnancy and childbirth were common features within society. Further archeological evidence illustrates strong evidence for female death caused by nursing as well. Death of this population is attributed to the vast amount of nutrition and fat that women lost because of lactation which they often could not get back.
  As stated above childcare was a central job for women within Minoan society, evidence for this can not only be found within art forms but also within the Linear B found in Mycenaean communities. Some of these sources describe the child-care practices common within Minoan society which help historians to better understand Minoan society and the role of women within these communities.
  Other roles outside the household that have been identified as women's duties are food gathering, food preparation, and household care-taking. Additionally, it has been found that women were represented in the artisan world as ceramic and textile craftswomen.
  As women got older it can be assumed that their jobs taking care of children ended and transitions to more of a priority towards household management and job mentoring, teaching younger women the jobs that they themselves participated in.
  Minoan dress representation also clearly marks the difference between men and women. Minoan men were often depicted clad in little clothing while women's bodies, specifically later on, were more covered up. While there is evidence that the structure of women's clothing originated as a mirror to the clothing that men wore, fresco art illustrates how women's clothing evolved to be more and more elaborate throughout the Minoan era. Throughout the evolutions of women's clothing, a strong emphasis was placed on the women's sexual characteristics, particularly the breasts. Female clothing throughout the Minoan era emphasized the breasts by exposing cleavage or even the entire breast. Similarly to the modern bodice women continue to wear today, Minoan women were portraye
caption: Elite Minoan Women
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