Geometric & Archaic Period (900-500 BC)
This was a period that followed the Dark Ages and saw a rise of
huge cities throughout Greece and the founding of new colonies.
It was also, during this era, that the embryonic classical
philosophy, literature, poetry and theatre (especially the Greek
tragedies) began to develop. It is often defined as Greece"s
"structural and intellectual revolution". In Crete the
population increased significantly, with Crete becoming
assimilated into greater Greece and an infiltration of the
Dorians. This latter group were especially evident in the West
of Crete. The mainland Greeks brought with them their culture
and their religion and many new towns were established, for
example, Axos, Falasama, Polyrinnia and Yrtakina whilst in
Elefthema and Kydonia (Chania) the population increased.
In all, there were over 100 city-states including: Gortys,
Paestos, Knossos, Tylissos, Littos, Rizenia, Hersonissos, Lapa,
Lissos, Tara, Milatos, Terapytne, and Cryonic. Although, over
time through this period, many of the old cities were deserted
with a large proportion of the population moving away to
inaccessible mountain regions and consequently limiting
communication with the outside world. Despite the influences of
new groups, very little of this period remain to be seen today.
The Cretan political society at that time was governed by the
monarch, below this people were divided into three distinct
social strata: "periiki" were owners of land and involved in
trade but had very few political rights; beneath these were the
"minoites" who worked as slaves in the construction of public
works and, at the bottom, were the social group known a
"afamiotes" or "klarotes" who were the personal slaves of the
Dorians and carried out all the heavy, agricultural work. Life
was based on the strict models of Sparta (one of the most
powerful cities at the time). Evidence of this can be seen from
the excavated "Law Code of Gortys" which is carved on the great
inscription in twelve columns at the excavation site of Gortys.
It fully covers laws concerning family relationships and
inheritance and partially with laws concerning property (outside
of kinship networks) tools, and contracts. There is no reference
to any criminal law or procedure but, of course, the findings
form only a small fraction of what was ancient Greek law.
Artefacts discovered from this period on Crete show that both
art and science were heavily influenced by both Dorian and Asia
Minor. For some time, during the 7th century BC, Crete seems to
have been the cultural and artistic centre of Greece. Currently,
a major, ongoing excavation project at Azoria on the north east
coast of Crete by the University of North Carolina (The Azoria
Project) has managed to piece together some of the social and
political history of Crete during this period. From their
findings it is believed that, around 600 BC, there was a major
change in the settlement of Azoria as a result of the growth of
a new urban centre and accompanying socio-political and economic
institutions. It seems the settlement was destroyed and then
rebuilt with a new city plan incorporating new types of houses,
civic buildings and temples. .