Ritual in the Aegean: The Minoan Peak Sanctuaries

The function of this monograph is dual. Firstly it creates a methodology on how to identify ritual in prehistoric archaeology, and identifies the limitations of any such identification. It also proposes an avenue to explore the politics of ritual, without need for any elaborate further reconstructions, by assessing the establishment of ritual and looking at ritual institutions. This theoretical framework is then put to the test with the Minoan Peak Sanctuary material. In essence this is the first book dedicated exclusively to the material of the Peak Sanctuaries, and in doing so it takes nothing for granted. The second large contribution, beyond the theoretical, is the tracing of the role that the Peak Sanctuaries played in Minoan ideology, society, economics and politics through the ages.