The Monumental Minoan Buildings at Kommos

The Kommos region and houses of the Minoan town. pt. 1. The Kommos region, ecology, and Minoan industries / edited by Joseph W. Shaw and Maria C. Shaw. -- The Minoan hilltop and hillside houses / edited by Joseph W. Shaw and Maria C. Shaw. -- The final neolithic through middle Minoan III pottery / Philip P. Betancourt. -- The late bronze age pottery / Livingston Vance Watrous. -- The Greek sanctuary / edited by Joseph W. Shaw and Maria C. Shaw. -- The monumental Minoan buildings at Kommos / edited by Joseph W. Shaw and Maria C. Shaw.An Excavation off the South Coast of Crete by the University of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.The aim of the present volume is to present a detailed report on the monumental Minoan buildings and to provide historical perspective on their use and role in the wider geographical area of Crete and the Aegean. It appears that Kommos, with its monumental buildings located in what we have termed the “Southern Area,” played a crucial role in international maritime trade. Raised in discussion are questions such as whether these grand structures were entirely the product of local initiative, or also the outcome of decisions made by external powers. Important neighboring Minoan sites, like Phaistos with its multiperiod palace, as well as the somewhat later Royal Villa at Aghia Triada, vie as possible protagonists in such roles, the three sites together forming what we have labeled a “Great Minoan Triangle” within the vast and prosperous area in the western Mesara (J. W. and M. C. Shaw [eds.] 1985)