A New Minoan-type Peak Sanctuary on Stelida, Naxos

A long-recognised characteristic of Crete’s later Bronze Age [BA] state-level society - the `Minoan civilization’of the 2nd millennium cal. BC - was the establishment of socio-economic connections with off-island populations. The nature of these relationships has been interpreted in various ways, from the establishment of overseas colonies to a more mutually beneficial relationship between local political agents and their Cretan partners, not least Knossos. Minoan influence has been documented throughout the southern Aegean in the form of material culture, iconography, metrological systems, and socio-religious practices. It is the latter theme that concerns us here, specifically in the form of ‘peak sanctuaries’, i.e. upland foci of ritual activity associated with settlements and palatial centres throughout Crete, a handful of which are claimed to have been established overseas, on Kythera, Kea, Naxos, Rhodes and possibly Andros. We report here on what we claim to be a new example from Stelida on Naxos.