A NEW LOOK AT THE LATE MINOAN I(B) ADMINISTRATIVE HORIZON

Abstract

The LM IB destruction horizon on Crete is (still) widely accepted as one of the best documented events in the Cretan Bronze
Age, marking the end of a “Minoan” era and the beginning of a new “Mycenaean” era. The administrative documents from the
LM IB destructions at Archanes, Hagia Triada, Khania, Gournia, Myrtos Pyrgos, Petras, Zakro, Palaikastro, Sklavokambos,
and Tylissos are considered to form a synchronous administrative horizon, a window on Linear A, Neopalatial administration
on the eve of the LM IB destructions. The validity of this LM IB administrative horizon has not been questioned up to this
point. In this paper, we will attempt to show that the former conceals more chronological variation than previously assumed
by critically re-evaluating the LM I(B) deposits with administrative documents. The methodology used combines advances
in dating LM I and in particular LM IB pottery, a different approach to dating the documents based on the taphonomy and
chronological range of the deposits, and the use of cross-site ring impressions, amongst others the “charioteer ring” attested at
Akrotiri and on Crete, as an indicator of contemporaneity. By combining these different strands of evidence, we will propose
that the LM I(B) administrative horizon contains several chronological clusters.