Troullos, also known as Trullos, is the archaeological site of an ancient

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...

settlement on

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. The Troullos site is the easternmost section of the ancient settlement at

Archanes Archanes (, Godart & Olivier abbreviation: ARKH) is a former municipality in the Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Archanes-Asterousia, of which ...

Archaeology

Trullos was first excavated by

Sir Arthur Evans Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. The first excavations at the Minoan palace Minoan palaces were massive building complexe ...

, later by

Spyridon Marinatos Spyridon Marinatos (; – 1 October 1974) was a Greek archaeologist who specialised in the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations of the Aegean Bronze Age. He is best known for the excavation of the Minoan site of Akrotiri on Thera, which he ...

and most recently by J. and E. Sakellarakis. The site was in use from Middle Minoan II until late Minoan I.

Architecture

* Paved courtyards * Middle Minoan II, Middle Minoan III and Late Minoan I multiple-storeyed buildings * Late Minoan I house, including a

light-well In architecture, a lightwell,light well, light-well sky-well,skywell, sky well or air shaft is an unroofed or roofed external space provided within the volume of a large building to allow light and air to reach what would otherwise be a dark or u ...

* Clay-brick partition walls (building internals) *

Ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

walls (building internals) * Wall-paintings on

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

Artifacts

Among the movable artifacts at Troullos: * Polychrome

Kamares ware Kamares ware is a distinctive style of Minoan pottery produced by the Minoans in Crete. It is recognizable by its light-on-dark decoration, with white, red, and orange abstract motifs painted over a black background. A prestige style that requir ...

Terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

figurines * Tripod offering tables * Beak-spouted jugs * The Archanes Ladle, a translucent alabaster ladle with

Linear A Linear A is a writing system that was used by the Minoans of Crete from 1800 BC to 1450 BC. Linear A was the primary script used in Minoan palaces, palace and religious writings of the Minoan civilization. It evolved into Linear B, ...

inscriptions labelled TLZa1 by Godart and Olivier - discovered by Evans and believed to be from within Middle Minoan III- Late Minoan IA (A stunning photograph of this piece is available in Sakellarakis' guidebook to Archanes) * Marble pestles * Ritual

steatite Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium-rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in subdu ...

axe * Stone bird's nest vases * Porphyrite conical

rhyton A ''rhyton'' (: ''rhytons'' or, following the Greek plural, ''rhyta'') is a roughly conical container from which fluids were intended to be drunk or to be poured in some ceremony such as libation, or merely at table; in other words, a cup. A ...

* Two bull's head

Archaeology

Architecture

Artifacts

References

Further reading