Supported by most classical Greek scholars, this became the dominant view, and has kept that position to the present day. This view held that the people of Crete evolved essentially in isolation on their island, and gave rise to all the grand elements of Minoan palace culture by themselves. However a pivotal change occurred in 1972 when Colin Renfrew produced The Emergence of Civilisation with a completely different explanation: indigenous development.
Aspects of the architecture and artifacts seemed to reflect Eastern Mediterranean precedents, so Phoenician, Egyptian and other influences were suggested. It came into being shortly after Sir Arthur Evans discovered the Minoan palace at Knossos on Crete in 1900 AD. With regard to the origin and rise of Minoan people, the ‘Eastern influence’ view was the first to arise. To see this issue clearly, we focus on the Minoan palace society which existed on Crete during the period designated MM IB to LM IB (roughly 1950 BC to 1450 BC), and on the years which preceded it.
New evidence having a direct bearing on this issue is presented here, and a possible answer to their origin is identified. As we shall see, two distinct views on the possible origin of the Minoans continue to divide scholars, even to the present day: indigenous development versus Eastern influence. Identifying the origin of the beautiful Minoan civilization on Crete is a matter of some importance since-together with the Mycenaeans of the mainland-the Minoans are believed to have been the forerunners of classical Greece, the widely-accepted main source of Western civilization.
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