The Inscribed Stirrup Jars: Implications for Late Minoan IIIB Crete

Abstract

There is little agreement among scholars as to when the palace at Knossos was finally destroyed. This uncertainty leaves open a number of important questions concerning Late Minoan III Crete. Investigation of the securely dated LM IIIB written "documents," the inscribed stirrup jars, provides answers to some of those questions. It can be shown that the IIIB Cretans were able to express themselves in the Linear B script and that this knowledge of writing was more widespread than is usually supposed; at least three and perhaps six workshops where inscribed stirrup jars were produced can be identified in different regions of Crete. The jars also provide evidence for one (or a few) Mycenaean administrative center(s) with a wanax in LM IIIB Crete. During the same period Khania in western Crete was under strong Mycenaean influence and participated in international trade; indeed, the entire island prospered from external trade. The textual evidence of the inscribed stirrup jars, supported by steadily growing archaeological evidence, indicates the presence of Mycenaeans in LM IIIB Crete and suggests that the production of stirrup jars and their contents was organized in a way which is not inconsistent with the administrative system found in the Linear B tablets at Knossos.