From 1957 to 1961, the British School at Athens undertook an extensive programme of stratigraphical excavations at Knossos under Sinclair Hood, then Director of the School. This report publishes in detail the results of investigations into Early Minoan levels, which shed much new light on the era before the 'Old Palace' was established. The three excavations comprised: an Early Minoan I deep well, the oldest at Knossos; trials on the north side of the Royal Road, with Early Minoan II-III house remains; and similar trials in the Early Houses below the South Front of the Palace, which included investigation of the South Front House of Early Minoan III. The volume provides invaluable data on the types and phased development of pottery in this major settlement site of the third millennium BC, a period when much of our Cretan evidence derives from tombs. It also helps to chronicle the expansion of Knossos during the Early Bronze Age, and offers new insights into the material culture of Prepalatial society, including possible feasting in Early Minoan I, new evidence for olives and wine, and well-dated Early Minoan III seal impressions of the Parading Lions group. A valuable addition is a chapter devoted to other Early Minoan pottery from Knossos, held in museums in Europe and the USA. Copiously illustrated with line drawings and photographs, the volume will serve as a major resource for all interested in early cultural developments in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
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