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{{Female adult bio
{{inline}}
| name=Bree Olson
{{History of Greece}}
| photo = [[Image:AN Bree Olson 2.jpg|200px]]
| birth = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1986|10|7}}
| location = Houston, Texas
| measurements= 34D-28-36
| height= {{height|ft=5|in=3}}
| weight={{convert|124|lb|kg|abbr=on}}
| eye color= Brown
| hair color= Blonde
| ethnicity= Caucasian
| natural bust= yes<ref name="The Howard Stern Show">{{cite web|url=http://www.howardstern.com/rundown.hs?d=1191988800|title=Porn Star Feud|accessdate=2007-10-10
| author= The Howard Stern Show|publisher=Howard Stern Productions, Inc.}}</ref>
| alias= Bree Olsen
| homepage= http://www.breeolson.com
| Movies= 126 (including compilations)
| iafd = BreeOlson
| egafd =
| bgafd =
| imdb = 2510013
| afdb = 44222
|
}}
'''Bree Olson''' (born October 7, 1986) is an [[United States|American]] [[porn actor|pornographic actress]] and ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]'' [[Penthouse Pet|Pet]].<ref name=PenthouseMagazine>{{cite web | url=http://www.penthousemagazine.com | title=Penthouse Magazine | language=English}}</ref>


==Biography==
The '''Minoan civilization''' was a [[Bronze Age]] civilization which arose on the island of [[Crete]]. The Minoan culture flourished from approximately [[27th century BC|2700]] to [[1450s BC|1450 BC]]; afterwards, [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Greek]] culture became dominant on Crete.
Olson was born in [[Houston, Texas]], and grew up in [[Woodburn, Indiana]]. After graduating from Woodlan high school in 2005 she went to [[Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne]] where she was a Pre-Medicine Biology major. She was recently signed to Adam & Eve Films for a one year contract starting August 1, 2007.<ref>[http://www.avn.com/index.cfm?objectId=F5F71AC5-AC5D-C5D9-262AD464C46954C9 AVN:Adam & Eve Signs Bree Olson]</ref>


She has been cited in many web articles that her biggest hero is her grandmother, a concentration camp survivor.<ref>[http://www.xrentdvd.com/Porn_Star_Interviews/Bree_Olson.html Bree Olson Interview]</ref>
The term "Minoan" was coined by the British archeologist Sir [[Arthur Evans]] after the mythic [[Minos|"king" Minos]].<ref>John Bennet, "Minoan civilization", ''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', 3rd ed., p. 985.</ref> Minos was associated in [[Greek Mythology|Greek myth]] with the [[labyrinth]], which Evans identified as the site at [[Knossos]]. What the Minoans called themselves is unknown. It has sometimes been argued that the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] place name "Keftiu" (*''kaftāw'') and the [[Semitic]] "Kaftor" or "[[Caphtor]]" and "Kaptara" in the [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] archives apparently refer to the island of Crete. In the ''[[Odyssey]]'' which was composed centuries after the destruction of the Minoan civilization, [[Homer]] calls the natives of Crete [[Eteocretan language|Eteocretans]] ("true Cretans"); these may have been descendants of the Minoans.


She has been also named ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]'' Pet of the Month for March 2008<ref name=PenthouseMagazine>{{cite web | url=http://www.penthousemagazine.com | title=Penthouse Magazine | language=English}}</ref> and appeared as the cover girl of issue 13 of ''Hustler''. (UK Edition March 2008)
Minoan [[palace]]s are the best known [[building]] types to have been excavated on the island. They are monumental buildings serving [[administrative]] purposes as evidenced by the large [[archive]]s unearthed by [[archeologist]]s. Each of the palaces excavated to date has its own unique features, but they also share features which set them apart from other structures. The palaces were often multi-storied, with interior and exterior [[staircase]]s, light wells, massive [[column]]s, storage magazines and courtyards.


Olson has said she is an atheist, saying in one interview "I'm atheist. I know that when you die, there's no heaven, so that really bums me out. I wish I could be [[Christian]] and say I'm going to heaven but I know I'm not. It sucks to know the truth."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.lukeisback.com/stars/stars/bree_olson.htm|title= Bree Olson Interview|accessdate= 2008-03-18|publisher= lukeisback.com}}</ref>
==Chronology and history==
{{details|Minoan chronology|Minoan chronology}}
{{details|Minoan pottery|Minoan pottery}}


However, her MySpace page describes her as an [[agnostic]]. <ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.myspace.com/breeolson9|title= Bree Olson MySpace.com|accessdate= 2008-05-31|publisher= MySpace.com}}</ref>
Rather than give calendar dates for the Minoan period, archaeologists use two systems of [[chronology|relative chronology]]. The first, created by Evans and modified by later archaeologists, is based on [[pottery]] styles. It divides the Minoan period into three main eras&mdash;Early Minoan (EM), Middle Minoan (MM), and Late Minoan (LM). These eras are further subdivided, e.g. Early Minoan I, II, III (EMI, EMII, EMIII). Another dating system, proposed by the Greek archaeologist [[Nicolas Platon]], is based on the development of the architectural complexes known as "palaces" at [[Knossos]], [[Phaistos]], [[Malia]], and [[Kato Zakros]], and divides the Minoan period into Prepalatial, Protopalatial, Neopalatial, and Post-palatial periods. The relationship among these systems is given in the accompanying table, with approximate calendar dates drawn from Warren and Hankey (1989).


Olson was seen on the reality show ''[[Keeping Up with the Kardashians]]'' on E!: Entertainment Television. She had a small role as the nanny who was fired on her first day.<ref>[http://www.dotspotter.com/news/536303_Did_the_Kardashians_Hire_a_Porn_Star_Nanny Did the Kardashians Hire a Porn Star Nanny?]</ref><ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1122731/ Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Managing Mom]</ref>
The [[Thera eruption]] occurred during a mature phase of the LM IA period. The calendar date of the volcanic eruption is extremely controversial; see the article on [[Thera eruption#Dating the volcanic eruption|dating the Thera eruption]] for discussion. It often is identified as a catastrophic natural event for the culture, leading to its rapid collapse, perhaps being narrated mythically as [[Atlantis]] by Classical Greeks.


Olson has made several appearances on ''[[Opie and Anthony]]'' and ''[[The Howard Stern Show]]''.
===History===
{|align=right border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="font-size: 95%; border: gray solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse; text-align: center;"
|- style="background: #ececec;"
! colspan="14" style="background: #f9f9f9; text-align: center;" | &nbsp;&nbsp;'''Minoan chronology'''
|-
| 3650-3000 BC
| EMI
| rowspan=4 valign="top" | '''Prepalatial'''
|-
| 2900-2300 BC
| EMII
|-
| 2300-2160 BC
| EMIII
|-
| 2160-1900 BC
| MMIA
|-
| 1900-1800 BC
| MMIB
| rowspan=2 valign="top" | '''Protopalatial'''<br />(Old Palace Period)
|-
| 1800-1700 BC
| MMII
|-
| 1700-1640 BC
| MMIIIA
| rowspan=4 valign="top" | '''Neopalatial'''<br />(New Palace Period)
|-
| 1640-1600 BC
| MMIIIB
|-
| 1600-1480 BC
| LMIA
|-
| 1480-1425 BC
| LMIB
|-
| 1425-1390 BC
| LMII
| rowspan=5 valign="top" | '''Postpalatial'''<br /> (At Knossos, Final Palace Period)
|-
| 1390-1370 BC
| LMIIIA1
|-
| 1370-1340 BC
| LMIIIA2
|-
| 1340-1190 BC
| LMIIIB
|-
| 1190-1170 BC
| LMIIIC
|-
| 1100 BC || Subminoan
|}
The oldest evidence of inhabitants on Crete are ceramic [[Neolithic]] remains that date to approximately 7000 BC. See [[History of Crete]] for details.


==Filmography==
The beginning of the [[Bronze]] Age in [[Crete]], around 2600 BC, was a period of great unrest,<!--unnecessarily mysterious: what does this entail?--> and also marks the beginning of Crete as an important center of [[civilization]].
She started in the adult industry in 2006 doing [[Gonzo pornography|gonzo]] type productions through various internet websites. She has currently performed in over 80 adult movies and starred in many of them.<ref>[http://www.iafd.com/person.rme/perfid=BreeOlson/gender=f bree olson - porn star - dvd and videos and more - filmography - iafd.com - internet adult film database<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


==Awards==
At the end of the MMII period (1700 BC) there was a large disturbance in Crete, probably an earthquake, or possibly an invasion from [[Anatolia]].{{fact}} The Palaces at Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, and Kato Zakros were destroyed. But with the start of the Neopalatial period, population increased again,{{fact}} the palaces were rebuilt on a larger scale and new settlements were built all over the island. This period (the seventeenth and sixteenth centuries BC, MM III / Neopalatial) represents the apex of the Minoan civilization. The [[Thera eruption]] occurred during LMIA (and LHI).
*2007 Night Moves Adult Entertainment Award Best New Starlet, Editor's Choice<ref name=AVN20071011> http://www.avn.com/index.cfm?objectID=91BDDEEC-A7E5-43A7-A7810D8CA48D91E3&slid=281475 "NightMoves Award Winners Announced"], By Peter Warren, October 11, 2007, ''[[Adult Video News]]''. Retrieved [[2007-12-27]].</ref>

*2007 Adultcon Top 20 Adult Actresses<ref>{{cite web | title = Adultcon Names Top 20 Adult Actresses Honor Roll | url = http://www.xbiz.com/news/news_piece.php?id=88264 | publisher = XBiz | date = 2007-12-27 | accessdate = 2008-01-01}}</ref>
On the [[Greece|Greek mainland]], the [[Helladic]] period of culture was contemporary; Late Helladic (LH) IIB began during LMIB, showing independence from Minoan influence. LMIB ware has been found in [[Egypt]] under the reigns of [[Hatshepsut]] and [[Tuthmosis III]]. At the end of the LMIB period, the Minoan palace culture failed catastrophically.{{fact}} All palaces were destroyed, and only Knossos was immediately restored - although other palaces, such as [[Chania]], sprang up later in LMIIIA. Either the LMIB/LMII catastrophe occurred after this time, or else it was so bad that the Egyptians then had to import LHIIB instead.
*2008 [[AVN Award]] – [[AVN Best New Starlet Award|Best New Starlet]]<ref>{{cite web|url= http://avn.com/video/articles/2759.html|title= 2008 AVN Awards Winners Announced|accessdate= 2008-01-14|author= Jared Rutter|date= 2008-01-12|publisher= [[AVN (magazine)|AVN]]}}</ref>

*2008 AVN Award – Best Anal Sex Scene (Video) – ''Big Wet Asses 10'' (with [[Brandon Iron]])
A short time after the LMIB/LMII catastrophe, around 1420 BC, the palace sites were occupied by the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaeans]], who adapted the [[Linear A]] Minoan script to the needs of their own [[Mycenaean language]], a form of [[Ancient Greek|Greek]], which was written in [[Linear B]]. The first such archive anywhere is in the LMII-era "Room of the Chariot Tablets". Later [[Cretan]] archives date to LMIIIA (contemporary with LHIIIA) but no later than that.
* '''2008''' [[F.A.M.E. Awards]] - Favorite Female Rookie<ref>{{cite web|url= http://avn.com/performer/articles/30630.html|title= 2008 F.A.M.E. Winners Announced at Erotica LA|accessdate= 2008-06-08|author= David Sullivan|date= 2008-06-07|publisher= [[AVN (magazine)|AVN]]}}</ref>

During LMIIIA:1, [[Amenhotep III]] at Kom el-Hatan took note of ''k-f-t-w'' (Kaftor) as one of the "Secret Lands of the North of [[Asia]]". Also mentioned are Cretan cities such as ''i-'m-n-y-s3''/''i-m-ni-s3'' (Amnisos), ''b3-y-s3-?-y'' (Phaistos), ''k3-t-w-n3-y'' (Kydonia) and ''k3-in-yw-s'' (Knossos) and some [[toponym]]s reconstructed as belonging to the Cyclades or the Greek mainland. If the values of these Egyptian names are accurate, then this [[pharaoh]] did not privilege LMIII Knossos above the other states in the region.

After about a century of partial recovery, most Cretan cities and palaces went into decline in the thirteenth century BC (LHIIIB/LMIIIB).

Knossos remained an administrative center until 1200 BC; the last{{fact}} of the Minoan sites was the defensive mountain site of [[Karfi]] a refuge site which displays vestiges of Minoan civilization almost into the [[Iron Age]].

==Geography==
[[Image:Map Minoan Crete-en.svg|thumb|right|350px|Map of Minoan Crete]]
Crete is a mountainous island with natural [[harbor]]s. There are signs of earthquake damage at many Minoan sites and clear signs of both uplifting of land and submersion of coastal sites due to [[tectonics|tectonic]] processes all along the coasts.{{fact}}

[[Homer]] recorded a tradition that Crete had ninety cities.{{fact}} The island was probably divided into at least five political units during the height of the Minoan period and at different stages in the Bronze Age into more or less.<!--doubtless: transmits no information--> The north is thought to have been governed from Knossos, the south from [[Phaistos]], the central eastern part from [[Malia (city)|Malia]], and the eastern tip from [[Kato Zakros]] and the west from [[Chania]]. Smaller palaces have been found in other places.

Some of the major Minoan archaeological sites are:

*Palaces
**[[Knossos]] - the largest{{fact}} Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete; was purchased for excavations by Evans on March 16, 1900.
**[[Phaistos]] - the second largest{{fact}} palatial building on the island, excavated by the Italian school shortly after Knossos
**[[Malia (city)|Malia]] - the subject of French excavations, a palatial centre which affords a very interesting look into the development of the palaces in the protopalatial period
**[[Kato Zakros]] - a palatial site excavated by Greek archaeologists in the far east of the island
**[[Galatas Palace|Galatas]] - the most recently{{when}} confirmed palatial site
*[[Agia Triada]] - an administrative centre close to Phaistos
*[[Gournia]] - a town site excavated in the first quarter of the 20th Century by the American School
*[[Pyrgos]] - an early minoan site on the south of the island
*[[Vasiliki]] - an early minoan site towards the east of the island which gives its name to a distinctive ceramic ware
*[[Fournou Korifi|Fournu Korfi]] - a site on the south of the island
*[[Pseira]] - island town with ritual sites
*[[Mount Juktas]] - the greatest{{fact}} of the Minoan peak sanctuaries by virtue of its association with the palace of Knossos
*[[Arkalochori]] - the findsite of the famous [[Arkalochori Axe]]
*[[Karfi]] - a refuge site from the late Minoan period, one of the last of the Minoan sites
*[[Akrotiri (Santorini)|Akrotiri]] - settlement on the island of [[Santorini]] (Thera), near the site of the [[Thera Eruption]]

===Minoans beyond Crete===
Minoans were traders, and their cultural contacts reached far beyond the island of Crete — to [[Old Kingdom|Old Kingdom Egypt]], to copper-bearing [[Cyprus]] and the Syrian coasts beyond, and to Anatolia.{{fact}} Minoan techniques and styles in ceramics provided models, of fluctuating influence, for [[Helladic period|Helladic Greece]]. In addition to the familiar example of [[Thera]], Minoan "colonies" — if that is not too misleading a term{{clarify}} — can be found first of all at [[Kastri]] on [[Cythera]], the birthplace for Greeks of [[Aphrodite]], an island close to the Greek mainland that came under Minoan influence in the mid-third millennium (EMII) and remained Minoan in culture for a thousand years, until Mycenaean occupation in the thirteenth century. The Minoan strata there replace a mainland-derived culture in the Early Bronze Age, the earliest Minoan settlement outside Crete.<ref>J. N. Coldstream and G. L. Huxley, ''Kythera: Excavations and Studies Conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the British School at Athens'' (London: Faber & Faber) 1972.</ref> The [[Cyclades]] were in the Minoan cultural orbit, and, closer to Crete, the islands of Karpathos, Saros and Kasos, also contained Minoan colonies, or settlements of Minoan traders, from the Middle Bronze Age (MMI-II); most of them were abandoned in LMI, but Minoan Karpathos recovered and continued with a Minoan culture until the end of the Bronze Age.<ref>E. M. Melas, ''The Islands of Karpathos, Saros and Kasos in the Neolithic and Bronze Age'' (Studies in Mediterranean archaeology '''68''') (Göteburg) 1985.</ref> Other supposed Minoan colonies, such as that hypothesised by [[Adolf Furtwängler]] for [[Aegina]], have been dismissed by subsequent archaeological studies.<ref>James Penrose Harland, ''Prehistoric Aigina: A History of the Island in the Bronze Age'', ch. V. (Paris) 1925.</ref> There was a Minoan colony at [[Triandra]] on [[Rhodes]].<ref>Arne Furumark, "The settlement at Ialysos and Aegean history,c. 1500-1400 B.B.", in ''Opuscula archaeologica'' '''6''' (Lund) 1950;T. Marketou, "New Evidence on the Topography and Site History of Prehistoric Ialysos." in Soren Dietz and Ioannis Papachristodoulou (eds.), ''Archaeology in the Dodecanese'' (1988:28-31).</ref>

Certain locations within Crete emphasise it as an 'outward looking'{{fact}} society. The Neopalatial site of Kato Zakro, for instance, is located within 100 metres of the modern shore-line, situated within a bay. Its large number of workshops and the richness of its site materials indicate a potential 'entrepôt' for import and export. Such activities are elaborated in artistic representations of the sea, including the 'Flotilla' fresco from room 5, in the west house at Akrotiri.

Minoan cultural influence indicates an orbit that extended not only throughout the Cyclades (so-called ''Minoanisation''), but in locations such as Egpyt and Cyprus. Late Minoan I (LMI) stonework has been observed at Amman. Furthermore, in fifteenth century tomb paintings at Thebes a number of individuals have been distinguished as Minoan in appearance, baring gifts. Inscriptions record these people as coming from ''Keftiu'', or the "islands in the midst of the sea", and may refer to gift bringing merchants or officials from Crete<ref>Dickinson, O (1994) Pg. 248</ref>.

==Society and culture==
[[Image:Copper Ingot Crete.jpg|thumb|200px|Minoan [[copper]] ingot]]
The Minoans were primarily a [[mercantile]] people engaged in overseas trade. Their culture, from 1700 BC onward, shows a high degree of organization.

Many historians and archaeologists believe{{who}} that the Minoans were involved in the Bronze Age's important [[tin]] trade: tin, alloyed with [[copper]] apparently from [[Cyprus]], was used to make [[bronze]]. The decline of Minoan civilization and the decline in use of bronze tools in favor of iron ones seem to be correlated.

The Minoan trade in [[saffron]], the stigma of a mutated crocus which originated in the Aegean basin as a natural chromosome mutation, has left fewer material remains: a fresco of saffron-gatherers at [[Santorini]] is well-known. This inherited trade pre-dated Minoan civilization: a sense of its rewards may be gained by comparing its value to [[frankincense]], or later, to [[black pepper|pepper]]. Archaeologists{{who}} tend to emphasize the more durable items of trade: ceramics, copper, and tin, and dramatic luxury finds of [[gold]] and [[silver]].

Objects of Minoan manufacture suggest there was a network of trade with mainland [[Greece]] (notably [[Mycenae]]), [[Cyprus]], [[Syria]], [[Anatolia]], [[Egypt]], [[Mesopotamia]], and westward as far as the coast of [[Spain]]. <!--Spanish Minoan site should be mentioned here-->

[[Image:Knossos fresco women.jpg|thumb|300px|Fresco showing three women possibly Queens]] Minoan men wore [[loincloth]]s and [[kilt]]s. Women wore [[robe]]s that had short sleeves and layered flounced skirts. These were open to the navel allowing their breasts to be left exposed, perhaps during ceremonial occasions.{{fact}} Women also had the option of wearing a strapless fitted [[bodice]], the first fitted garments known in history.{{fact}} The patterns on clothes emphasized [[symmetry|symmetrical]] geometric designs. It must be remembered that other forms of dress may have been worn of which we have no record.

The Minoan religion focused on female deities, with females officiating.<ref>Patricia Rosof ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=wn1d4KDS7a4C Family History]'' p.12</ref> The statues of [[priest]]esses in Minoan culture and frescoes showing men and women participating in the same sports such as [[bull-leaping]], lead some archaeologists to believe that men and women held equal social status. Inheritance is thought to have been matrilineal. The frescos include many depictions of people, with the genders distinguished by colour: the men's skin is reddish-brown, the women's white.

Concentration of wealth played a large role in the structure of society. Multiroom constructions were discovered in even the ‘poor’ areas of town, revealing a social equality and even distribution of wealth. Minoan artwork reveals that equality existed among genders as well. Evidence includes frescos that depict women participating with men in recreational sporting events. The absence of a powerful warrior class{{fact}} meant that women and men were placed on an even playing field.

===Language and writing===
[[Image:Disque de Phaistos A.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Unknown syllabic signs on the [[Phaistos Disc]]]]
Knowledge of the spoken and written language of the Minoans is scant, due to the small number of records found. Sometimes the Minoan language is referred to as [[Eteocretan language|Eteocretan]], but this presents confusion between the language written in [[Linear A|Linear A scripts]] and the language written in a [[History of the Alphabet|Euboean]]- derived alphabet after the [[Greek Dark Ages]]. While the Eteocretan language is suspected to be a descendant of Minoan{{fact}}, there is not enough source material in either language to allow conclusions to be made. It also is unknown whether the language written in [[Cretan hieroglyphs]] is Minoan. As with Linear A, it is undeciphered and its phonetic values are unknown.

Approximately 3,000{{fact}} tablets bearing writing have been discovered so far in Minoan contexts. The overwhelming majority are in the [[Linear B]] script, apparently being inventories of goods or resources. Others are inscriptions on religious objects associated with [[Cult (religion)|cult]]{{which}}. Because most of these inscriptions are concise economic records rather than dedicatory inscriptions, the translation of Minoan remains a challenge. The hieroglyphs came into use from MMI and were in parallel use with the emerging Linear A from the eighteenth century BC (MM II) and disappeared at some point during the seventeenth century BC (MM III).

In the Mycenean period, Linear A was replaced by Linear B, recording a very archaic version of the [[Greek language]]. Linear B was successfully deciphered by [[Michael Ventris]] in 1953, but the earlier scripts remain a mystery. Unless [[Eteocretan]] truly is its descendant, it is perhaps during the [[Greek Dark Ages]], a time of economic and socio-political collapse, that the Minoan language became extinct.{{fact}}

===Art===
[[Image:Knossos bull.jpg|thumb|300px|right|A fresco found at the Minoan site of Knossos, indicating a sport or ritual of "bull leaping", the dark skinned figure is a man and the two light skinned figures are women]]
The collection of Minoan art is in the museum at [[Heraklion]], near Knossos on the north shore of Crete. Minoan art, with other remains of [[material culture]], especially the sequence of ceramic styles, has allowed archaeologists to define the three phases of Minoan culture (EM, MM, LM) discussed above.

Since wood and textiles have vanished through decomposition, the most important{{fact}} surviving examples of Minoan art are [[Minoan pottery]], the palace architecture with its [[fresco]]s that include landscapes, [[stone carving]]s, and intricately carved [[Seal (device)|seal stones]].

Because prosperity did not rely on agriculture and warfare{{fact}}, the Minoans had more time to dedicate to art. This led to the development of a highly visual culture that created works for pleasure rather than utility, politics, or religion. Cretan society was the first ‘leisure’ society discovered by archaologists.{{fact}}

====Pottery====
{{main|Minoan pottery}}
In the Early Minoan period ceramics were characterised by linear patterns of [[spiral]]s, [[triangle]]s, curved lines, [[cross]]es, [[fishbone]] motifs, and such. In the Middle Minoan period naturalistic designs such as [[fish]], [[squid]], [[bird]]s, and [[lily|lilies]] were common. In the Late Minoan period, flowers and animals were still the most characteristic, but the variability had increased. The 'palace style' of the region around Knossos is characterised by a strong [[geometric]] simplification of [[naturalism (art)|naturalistic]] shapes and [[monochrome|monochromatic]] paintings. Very noteworthy are the similarities between Late Minoan and [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] art.
<gallery heights="120"|right>
Image:Minoische Keramik - Kannen.jpg|Cans (Old Palace Period)
Image:Minoan Ceramic - Can.jpg|Vase, Marine Style, 1500 B.C. (New Palace Period)
Image:Minoische Keramik - Kannen02.jpg|Cans, 1390-1070 B.C. (Final Palace Period)
</gallery>

====Painting====
While the Egyptian painters of the time painted their wall paintings in the "dry-fresco" (fresco secco) technique, the Minoans utilized a "true" or "wet" painting method, allowing the pigments of metal and mineral oxides to bind well to the wall, while it required quick execution.{{fact}} The nature of this technique allowed for improvisation, spontaneity, and the element of chance. Since they had to work within the time constrains of the drying plaster, the painters had to be very skillful, and their fluid brush strokes translated into the graceful outlines that characterize minoan painting. For this reason, this method of painting was most appropriate for the fluid moments of life and nature scenes that the Minoans favored, which contrasted sharply with the strict stylization and stereotyping typical of frescoes from other Mediterranean cultures of the same time.

The figures of Minoan frescoes are depicted in natural poses of free movement that reflect the rigors of the activity they engage with, an attitude characteristic of a seafaring culture accustomed to freedom of movement, liquidity, and vigor.

====Sculpture and Figures====
[[Image:Minoan sculptures.jpg|thumb|right|Minoan Sculptures]]
Very little sculpture from Minoan Crete has survived since most of it was not monumental, and instead consisted of small artifacts dedicated to gods or kings.{{fact}} One of the best known examples is the Snake Goddess fetish which exhibits many stylized conventions with the geometric division of the body and dress, while its frontal pose reminds us of Mesopotamian and Egyptian sculpture. The extended arms holding the snakes however add animation to the static pose. The statuette appears to be a goddess or high priestess{{fact}}, and the dress which covers the body all the way to the ground while leaving the breasts exposed was typical of Minoan female attire and is repeated in frescoes. Some of these models were conserved by re-shaping and re-painting, and underwent several modifications.

A variety of ceramic, bone, clay and stone figures have been recovered from Minoan sites, many of which have been excavated from communal tombs and peak sanctuaries. Schematic depictions of human individuals and various animals in a range of attitudes have been recorded, though due to the friable nature of baked clay many survive in fragments rather than coherent shapes. Some of these figures have been treated with layers of paint, either in a binary black and white, or shades of red. It has been demonstrated<ref>McGowan, Erin Ruth (2006) Pg. 32-57</ref> that the visual profiles of the clay figures, with their arms raised or crossed, could have represented a technique for individuals to reach an altered state of consciousness (ASC) in conjunction with sound and light stimulation.

Other common gestures observed in figures include the 'Minoan salute' (i.e., one fist raised to the forehead whilst the other remains at the side) and the 'hands-on-hips'. The latter attitude is often represented in a female figure who has been given multiple interpretations: the epiphany (appearance) of a deity, a religious official, and a worshiper. Whatever the meaning (if there is only one), it is clear that gestures and posturing were important aspects of Palatial culture and Minoan ritual.

===Technology===
Through their interaction with other civilizations of the middle east, the Minoans were aware and utilized the art of metalworking Their skillful jewelry creations adorned the collections of noble palace inhabitants and were even exported around the Mediterranean.

The archaeological museums in Crete present a number of gold artifacts, along with an assortment of copper instruments that date back to 2300 BC. Copper was a much sought after commodity during this time, and it does not appear naturally in Crete. Most likely the Minoans imported copper from Cyprus.

The skill of the Minoan metal smiths was renowned in the ancient world, and many artisans worked abroad in mainland Greece and the Aegean islands.{{fact}} The Mycenaeans learned the art of inlaying bronze with gold from the Minoans.{{fact}}
<gallery heights="120">
Image:Minoische Halskette - Kettenglieder.jpg|golden Minoan necklace
Image:Minoan craft - golden bee.jpg|golden bee with little golden inlayed spherules
Image:Minoische Kultgegenstaende - Doppelaxt.jpg|Minoan symbolic labrys of gold
Image:Minoan_necklace02.jpg|Minoan necklace
</gallery>

===Religion===
{{see|Religions of the Ancient Near East}}
[[Image:Snake Goddess Crete 1600BC.jpg|thumb|200px|"[[Snake Goddess]]" or a priestess performing a ritual (MM III)]]

The Minoans worshiped goddesses.<ref>See Castleden 1994; Goodison and Morris 1998; N. Marinatos 1993; et al.</ref> Although there is some evidence of male gods, depictions of Minoan goddesses vastly outnumber depictions of anything that could be considered a Minoan god. While some of these depictions of women are believed to be images of worshipers and priestesses officiating at religious ceremonies, as opposed to the deity herself, there still seem to be several goddesses including a [[Mother Goddess]] of [[fertility rite|fertility]], a [[Mistress of the Animals]], a protectress of [[City|cities]], the [[Home|household]], the [[harvest]], and the [[underworld]], and more. Some have argued that these are all aspects of a single [[Great Goddess]]. They are often represented by [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpents]], birds, poppies, and a somewhat vague shape of an animal upon the head. Some{{who}} suggest the goddess was linked to the "Earthshaker", a male represented by the [[Cattle|bull]] and the [[sun]], who would die each [[autumn]] and be reborn each [[spring (season)|spring]]. Though the notorious bull-headed [[Minotaur]] is a purely Greek depiction, seals and seal-impressions reveal bird-headed or masked deities.
[[Image:The Bull Leaper Knossos 1500BC.jpg|thumb|left|The bull leaper from Knossos ([[Heraklion Archaeological Museum]])]]

A major festive celebration was exemplified in the famous athletic [[Bull-leaping|Minoan bull dance]], represented at large in the frescoes of Knossos<ref>In the small courtyard of the east wing of the palace of Knossos.</ref> and inscribed in miniature seals.<ref>An ivory figure reproduced by Spyridon Marinatos and Max Hirmer, ''Crete and Mycenae'' (New York) 1960, fig. 97, also shows the bull dance movement.</ref> In this feat that appears extremely dangerous, both male and female dancers would confront the bull and, grasping it by its sacred horns,<ref>The Minoan horn-topped altars, since [[Arthur Evans|Evans]]' time conventionally called "[[Horns of Consecration]]" are represented in seal impressions, and survive in examples as far afield as Cyprus. [[Plutarch]] (''The Intelligence of Animals'' 983) mentions the horn altar (''keraton'') associated with [[Theseus]], which survived on [[Delos]]: "I saw the horn altar, celebrated as one of the seven wonders, for it needs no glue or other bond, but is fixed and fitted together only by horns taken from the right side of the head".</ref> permit themselves to be tossed, somersaulting over its back to alight behind it. Each of these sequential movements appears in Minoan representations, but the actual significance of the bull dance in Minoan cult and cultural life is lost beyond retrieval. What is clear, however, is that there is no inkling of an antagonistic confrontation and triumph of the human through the ritual death of the bull, which is the essence of the surviving [[bullfight]] of Hispanic culture; rather, there is a sense of harmonious cooperation.

Interpretation of Minoan icons can easily range too far: [[Walter Burkert]] warns:
:"To what extent one can and must differentiate between Minoan and Mycenaean religion is a question which has not yet found a conclusive answer"<ref>Burkert 1985, p. 21.</ref>
and suggests that useful parallels will be found in the relations between Etruscan and Archaic Greek culture and religion, or between Roman and Hellenistic culture. Minoan religion has not been transmitted in its own language, and the uses literate Greeks later made of surviving Cretan [[mytheme]]s, after centuries of purely oral transmission, have transformed the meager sources: consider the Athenian point-of-view of the [[Theseus]] legend. A few Cretan names are preserved in [[Greek mythology]], but there is no way to connect a name with an existing Minoan icon, such as the familiar [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpent]]-goddess. Retrieval of metal and clay votive figures&mdash; [[labrys|double axes]], miniature vessels, models of artifacts, animals, human figures&mdash;has identified sites of cult: here were numerous small shrines in Minoan Crete, and mountain peaks and very numerous sacred caves&mdash;over 300 have been explored&mdash;were the centers for some [[cult (religion)|cult]], but [[temple]]s as the Greeks developed them were unknown.<ref>Kerenyi 1976, p. 18; Burkert 1985, p. 24ff.</ref> Within the palace complex, no central rooms devoted to cult have been recognized, other than the center court where youths of both sexes would practice the [[bull-leaping]] ritual. It is notable that there are no Minoan frescoes that depict any deities.

Minoan sacred symbols include the [[Bull (mythology)|bull]] and its horns of consecration, the [[labrys]] (double-headed axe), the [[column|pillar]], the serpent, the sun-disk, and the [[tree]].

===Warfare and "The Minoan Peace"===
[[Image:NAMA Akrotiri 2.jpg|thumb|180px|Children [[boxing]] in a fresco on the island of [[Santorini]] ]]
Though the vision created by [[Sir Arthur Evans]] of a ''pax Minoica'', a "Minoan peace", has been criticised in recent years,<ref>Alexiou wrote of fortifications and acropolises in Minoan Crete, in ''Kretologia'' '''8''' (1979), pp 41-56, and especially in C.G. Starr, "Minoan flower-lovers" in ''The Minoan Thalassocracy: Myth and Reality'' R. Hägg and N. Marinatos, eds. (Stockholm) 1994, pp 9-12.</ref> it is generally assumed there was little internal armed conflict in Minoan Crete itself, until the following Mycenaean period.<ref>W.-B. Niemeier, "Mycenaean Knossos and the Age of Linear B", ''Studi micenei ed egeoanatolici'' 1982:275.</ref> As with much of Minoan Crete, however, it is hard to draw any obvious conclusions from the evidence. However, new excavations keep sustaining interests and documenting the impact around the Aegean.<ref>[http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_ell_3096803_24/01/2007_79258 ekathimerini.com | Pax Minoica in Aegean<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Many argue that there is little evidence for ancient Minoan fortifications. But as S. Alexiou has pointed out (in ''Kretologia'' 8), a number of sites, especially Early and Middle Minoan sites such as Aghia Photia, are built on hilltops or are otherwise fortified. As Lucia Nixon said, "...we may have been over-influenced by the lack of what we might think of as solid fortifications to assess the archaeological evidence properly. As in so many other instances, we may not have been looking for evidence in the right places, and therefore we may not end with a correct assessment of the Minoans and their ability to avoid war.".<ref>Nixon, "Changing Views of Minoan Society," in ''Minoan Society'' ed L. Nixon.</ref>

Chester Starr points out in "Minoan Flower Lovers" (Hagg-Marinatos eds. Minoan Thalassocracy) that [[Shang dynasty|Shang China]] and the [[Maya civilization|Maya]] both had unfortified centers and yet still engaged in frontier struggles, so that itself cannot be enough to definitively show the Minoans were a peaceful civilization unparalleled in history.

In 1998, however, when Minoan archaeologists met in a conference in Belgium to discuss the possibility that the idea of Pax Minoica was outdated, the evidence for Minoan war proved to be scanty.

Archaeologist Jan Driessen, for example, said the Minoans frequently show 'weapons' in their art, but only in ritual contexts, and that "The construction of fortified sites is often assumed to reflect a threat of warfare, but such fortified centers were multifunctional; they were also often the embodiment or material expression of the central places of the territories at the same time as being monuments glorifying and merging leading power" (Driessen 1999, p. 16).

On the other hand, Stella Chryssoulaki's work on the small outposts or 'guard-houses' in the east of the island represent possible elements of a defensive system. Claims that they produced no weapons are erroneous; type A Minoan swords (as found in palaces of Mallia and Zarkos) were the finest in all of the Aegean (See Sanders, AJA 65, 67, Hoeckmann, JRGZM 27, or Rehak and Younger, AJA 102).

Regarding Minoan weapons, however, archaeologist Keith Branigan notes that 95% of so-called Minoan weapons possessed hafting (hilts, handles) that would have prevented their use as weapons (Branigan, 1999). However more recent experimental testing of accurate replicas has shown this to be incorrect as these weapons were capable of cutting flesh down to the bone (and scoring the bone's surface) without any damage to the weapons themselves. Archaeologist Paul Rehak maintains that Minoan figure-eight shields could not have been used for fighting or even hunting, since they were too cumbersome (Rehak, 1999). And archaeologist Jan Driessen says the Minoans frequently show 'weapons' in their art, but only in ritual contexts (Driessen 1999). Finally, archaeologist Cheryl Floyd concludes that Minoan "weapons" were merely tools used for mundane tasks such as meat-processing (Floyd, 1999). Although this interpretation must remain highly questionable as there are no parallels of one-meter-long swords and large spearheads being used as culinary devices in the historic or ethnographic record.

About Minoan warfare in general, Branigan concludes that "The quantity of weaponry, the impressive fortifications, and the aggressive looking long-boats all suggested an era of intensified hostilities. But on closer inspection there are grounds for thinking that all three key elements are bound up as much with status statements, display, and fashion as with aggression…. Warfare such as there was in the southern Aegean EBA [[early Bronze Age]] was either personalized and perhaps ritualized (in Crete) or small-scale, intermittent and essentially an economic activity (in the Cyclades and the Argolid/Attica) " (1999, p. 92). Archaeologist Krzyszkowska concurs: "The stark fact is that for the prehistoric Aegean we have no direct evidence for war and warfare per se" (Krzyszkowska, 1999).

Furthermore, no evidence exists for a Minoan army, or for Minoan domination of peoples outside Crete. Few signs of warfare appear in Minoan art. "Although a few archaeologists see war scenes in a few pieces of Minoan art, others interpret even these scenes as festivals, sacred dance, or sports events" (Studebaker, 2004, p. 27). Although armed warriors are depicted being stabbed in the throat with swords, violence may occur in the context of ritual or blood sport.

Although on the Mainland of Greece at the time of the Shaft Graves at Mycenae, there is little evidence for major fortifications among the Mycenaeans there (the famous citadels post-date the destruction of almost all Neopalatial Cretan sites), the constant warmongering of other contemporaries of the ancient Minoans – the Egyptians and Hittites, for example – is well documented.

====Possibility of human sacrifice====
[[Image:Labrys.jpg|thumb|200px|Minoan symbolic [[labrys]] of [[gold]], [[2nd millennium BC]]: many have been found in the [[Arkalochori]] cave.]]
Evidence that suggest the Minoans may have performed human sacrifice has been found at three sites: (1) [[Anemospilia]], in a MMII building near Mt. Juktas, interpreted as a temple, (2) an EMII sanctuary complex at [[Fournou Korifi]] in south central Crete, and (3) [[Knossos]], in an LMIB building known as the "North House." (''[[Minoan_civilization#Chronology_and_history|explanation of abbreviations]]'')

The temple at Anemospilia was destroyed by earthquake in the MMII period. The building seems to be a tripartite shrine, and terracotta feet and some carbonized wood were interpreted by the excavators as the remains of a cult statue. Four human skeletons were found in its ruins; one, belonging to a young man, was found in an unusually contracted position on a raised platform, suggesting that he had been trussed up for sacrifice, much like the bull in the sacrifice scene on the Mycenaean-era [[Agia Triadha]] sarcophagus. A bronze dagger was among his bones, and the discoloration of the bones on one side of his body suggests he died of blood loss. The bronze blade was fifteen inches long and had images of a boar on each side. The bones were on a raised platform at the center of the middle room, next to a pillar with a trough at its base.

The positions of the other three skeletons suggest that an earthquake caught them by surprise—the skeleton of a twenty-eight year old woman was spread-eagled on the ground in the same room as the sacrificed male. Next to the sacrificial platform was the skeleton of a man in his late thirties, with broken legs. His arms were raised, as if to protect himself from falling debris, which suggests that his legs were broken by the collapse of the building in the earthquake. In the front hall of the building was the fourth skeleton, too poorly preserved to allow determination of age or gender. Nearby 105 fragments of a clay vase were discovered, scattered in a pattern that suggests it had been dropped by the person in the front hall when he was struck by debris from the collapsing building. The jar had appears to have contained bull's blood.

Unfortunately, the excavators of this site have not published an official excavation report; the site is mainly known through a 1981 article in ''National Geographic'' (Sakellarakis and Sapouna-Sakellerakis 1981, see also Rutter<ref>[http://projectsx.dartmouth.edu/classics/history/bronze_age/lessons/les/15.html Lesson 15] of [http://projectsx.dartmouth.edu/classics/history/bronze_age/index.html The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean]
accessed [[March 17]] 2006</ref>).

Not all agree that this was human sacrifice. Nanno Marinatos says the man supposedly sacrificed actually died in the earthquake that hit at the time he died. She notes that this earthquake destroyed the building, and also killed the two Minoans who supposedly sacrificed him. She also argues that the building was not a temple and that the evidence for sacrifice "is far from&nbsp;… conclusive."<ref>Marinatos 1993, p. 114.</ref> Dennis Hughes concurs and also argues that the platform where the man lay was not necessarily an altar, and the blade was probably a spearhead that may not have been placed on the young man, but could have fallen during the earthquake from shelves or an upper floor.<ref>Hughes 1991, pp. 16-17, 47.</ref>

At the sanctuary-complex of Fournou Korifi, fragments of a human skull were found in the same room as a small hearth, cooking-hole, and cooking-equipment. This skull has been interpreted as the remains of a sacrificed victim.<ref>Gessell 1983.</ref>

In the "North House" at Knossos, the bones of at least four children (who had been in good health) were found which bore signs that "they were butchered in the same way the Minoans slaughtered their sheep and goats, suggesting that they had been sacrificed and eaten. The senior Cretan archaeologist Nicolas Platon was so horrified at this suggestion that he insisted the bones must be those of apes, not humans."<ref>MacGillivray 2000, ''Minotaur: Sir Arthur Evans and the Archaeology of the Minoan Myth"'' p.312-13</ref>

The bones, found by Peter Warren, date to Late Minoan IB (1580-1490), before the Myceneans arrived (in LM IIIA, circa 1320-1200) according to [[Paul Rehak]] and John G. Younger.<ref>"Review of Aegean Prehistory VII: Neopalatial, Final Palatial, and Postpalatial Crete," ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 102 (1998), pp. 91-173.</ref> Dennis Hughes and Rodney Castleden argue that these bones were deposited as a 'secondary burial'.<ref>Hughes 1991; Castleden 1991</ref> Secondary burial is the not-uncommon practice of burying the dead twice: immediately following death, and then again after the flesh is gone from the skeleton. The main weakness of this argument is that it does not explain the type of cuts and knife marks upon the bones.

=== Burial and Mortuary Practice ===
Like much of the archaeology of the Bronze Age, burial remains constitute a substantial proportion of material and archaeological evidence for the period. By the end of the Second Palace Period Minoan burial practice is dominated by two broad forms: 'Circular Tombs', or ''Tholoi'', (located in South Crete) and 'House Tombs', (located in the north and the east). Of course, there are many trends and patterns within Minoan mortuary practice that do not conform to this simple breakdown. Throughout this period there is a trend towards individual burials, with some distinguished exceptions. These include the much-debated Chrysolakkos complex, Mallia, consisting of a number of buildings forming a complex. This is located in the centre of Mallia's burial area and may have been the focus for burial rituals, or the 'crypt' for a notable family.

These tombs often evidence group burial, where more than one body is deposited. These may represent the burial crypts for generations of a kin group, or of a particular settlement where the individuals are not closely related and shared in the construction of the tomb. The 'house tomb' at Gournia is a typical example, where the construction consisted of a clay and reed roof, topping a mud-brick and stone base. At Ayia Photia certain rock-cut chamber tombs may have been used solely for the burial of children, indicating complex burial patterns that differed from region to region. Mortuary furniture and grave goods varied widely, but could include storage jars, bronze articles such as tools and weapons, and beauty articles such as pendants. Little is known about mortuary rituals, or the stages through which the deceased passed before final burial, but it has been indicated that 'toasting rituals' may have formed a part of this, suggested by the prevalence of drinking vessels found at some tombs<ref>Dickinson, O (1994) pg. 219</ref>.

In later periods (EM III) a trend towards singular burials, usually in clay ''Pithoi'' (large storage vessels), is observed throughout Crete, replacing the practice of built tombs. Equally, the introduction of ''Larnake'' or ''Larnax'' burials emerges, where the body was deposited in a clay or wooden sacrophagus. These coffins were often richly decorated with motifs and scenes similar to those of the earlier fresco and vase painting tradition<ref>L. Vance Watrous (1991) pg.285-307</ref>. However, rock-cut tombs and Tholoi remained in use even by the LM III period, including the site of Phylaki.

The distribution of burial sites varies in time and space. Some functional demands may have influenced the decision to locate a cemetery: the Late Minoan rock-cut tombs at Armeni utilise the geography of the area for structural support, where chambers are dug deep into the rock. Generally, cemeteries tend to cluster in regions close to settled areas. The Mochlos cemetery, for example, would have served the inhabitants of that island who settled in the south of the area. The cemetery itself has been interpreted to indicate a visible hierarchy, perhaps indicating social differentiation within the local population<ref>Soles, Jeffrey. S, (1992) pg. 41</ref>; larger, monumental tombs for the 'èlite', and smaller tombs, including some early ''Pithoi'' burials, for the larger part of the population.

==Architecture==

The Minoan cities were connected with stone-paved [[road]]s, formed from blocks cut with bronze [[saw]]s. Streets were drained and water and [[sewer]] facilities were available to the upper class, through [[clay]] pipes.

Minoan buildings often had flat tiled roofs; [[plaster]], wood, or [[flagstone]] [[floor]]s, and stood two to three stories high. Typically the lower [[wall]]s were constructed of stone and [[rubble]], and the upper walls of [[mudbrick]]. Ceiling timbers held up the roofs.

The materials used in constructing the villas and palaces varied, and could include sandstone, gypsum, or limestone. Equally, building techniques could also vary between different constructions; some palaces employed the use of ashlar masonry whilst others used roughly hewn megalithic blocks.
===Palaces===

[[Image:Palace of Knossus.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Ruins of the palace at Knossos]]
The first palaces were constructed at the end of the Early Minoan period in the third millennium BC ([[Malia]]). While it was formerly believed that the foundation of the first palaces was synchronous and dated to the Middle Minoan at around 2000 BC (the date of the first palace at Knossos), scholars now think that palaces were built over a longer period of time in different locations, in response to local developments. The main older palaces are Knossos, Malia, and Phaistos. Some of the elements recorded in the Middle Minoan 'palaces' (Knossos, Phaistos and Mallia, for example) have precedents in earlier styles of construction in the Early Minoan period<ref>D. Preziosi and L.A. Hitchcock ''Aegean Art and Architecture'' pg.48-9, Oxford University Press (1999)</ref>. These include the indented western court, and the special treatment given to the western façade. An example of this is seen at the "House on the Hill" at Vasiliki, dated to the Early Minoan II period.

The palaces fulfilled a plethora of functions: they served as centres of [[government]], administrative offices, [[shrine]]s, workshops, and storage spaces (e.g., for grain). These distinctions might have seemed artificial to Minoans.

The use of the term 'palace' for the older palaces, meaning a dynastic residence and seat of power, has recently come under criticism (see [[Palace]]), and the term 'court building' has been proposed instead. However, the original term is probably too well entrenched to be replaced. Architectural features such as ashlar masonry, [[orthostat]]s, columns, open courts, staircases (implying upper stories), and the presence of diverse basins have been used to define palatial architecture.

Often the conventions of better-known, younger palaces have been used to reconstruct older ones, but this practice may be obscuring fundamental functional differences. Most older palaces had only one story and no representative facades. They were U-shaped, with a big central court, and generally were smaller than later palaces. Late palaces are characterised by multi-story buildings. The west facades had sandstone ashlar masonry. Knossos is the best-known example. See [[Knossos]]. Further building conventions could include storage magazines, a north-south orientation, a pillar room, a Minoan Hall system, a western court, and pier-and-door entrance ways. Palatial architecture in the First Palace Period is identified by its 'square within a square' style, whilst later, Second Palace Period constructions incorporated more internal divisions and corridors<ref>Peziosi, D & L.A. Hitchcock (1999) Pg. 121</ref>.
[[Image:Knossos frise pieuvre edit.jpg|thumb|300px|Fresco from the "Palace of Minos", [[Knossos]], Crete]]
[[Image:Knossos Poterie 2.JPG|thumb|right|300px|Storage jars in Knossos]]

It is a common architectural standard among the Middle Minoan 'palaces' that they are aligned with their surrounding topography. The MM palatial structure of Phaistos appears to align with Mount Ida, whilst Knossos is aligned with Juktas<ref>Preziosi, D & Hitchcock, L.A. (1999) pg. 86</ref>. These are orientated along a north-south axis. One suggested reason for this is the ritual significance of the mountain, where a number of Peak Sanctuaries (spaces for public ritual) have been excavated (i.e., Petsophas). The material record for these sites show clusters of clay figurines and evidence of animal sacrifice.

===Columns===

One of the most notable contributions of Minoans to architecture is their unique column, which was wider at the top than the bottom. It is called an 'inverted' column because most Greek columns are wider at the bottom, creating an illusion of greater height. The columns were also made of wood as opposed to stone, and were generally painted red. They were mounted on a simple stone base and were topped with a pillow-like, round piece as a capital.<ref>Benton and DiYanni 1998, p. 67.</ref><ref>Bourbon 1998, p 34</ref>

===Villas===

A number of compounds interpreted as 'Villas' have been excavated in Crete. These structures share many features with the central Palaces (i.e., a conspicuous western facade, storage facilities, and a 'Minoan Hall') of the Neopalatial era, and may indicate either that they performed a similar rôle, or that they were artistic imitations, suggesting that their occupants were familiar with palatial culture. These villas are often richly decorated (see the frescos of Haghia Triadha Villa A).

==Agriculture and Subsistence==
The Minoans raised [[cow|cattle]], [[sheep]], [[pig]]s, and [[goat]]s, and grew [[wheat]], [[barley]], [[vetch]], and [[chickpea]]s, they also cultivated [[grape]]s, [[fig]]s, and [[olive]]s, and grew [[poppy|poppies]], for poppyseed and perhaps, opium. The Minoans domesticated [[bee]]s, and adopted [[pomegranate]]s and [[quince]]s from the Near East, although not [[lemon]]s and [[orange (fruit)|oranges]] as is often imagined. They developed Mediterranean polyculture<ref>However, it has been doubted recently that the systematic exploitation within a Polyculture model was employed at Crete (Hamilakis, Y (2007) [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119953774/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0]</ref>, the practice of growing more than one crop at a time, and as a result of their more varied and healthy diet, the population increased. This method of farming would theoretically maintain the fertility of the soil, as well as offering protection against low yields in any single crop. Furthermore, Linear B tablets indicate the importance of orchard farming (i.e., figs, olives and grapes) in processing crops for "secondary products"<ref>Sherratt, A. (1981) ''Plough and pastoralism: aspects of the secondary products revolution''</ref>. The process of fermenting wine from grapes is likely to have been a concern of the "Palace" economies, whereby such prestige goods would have been both important trade commodities as well as culturally meaningful items of consumption<ref>Hamilakis, Y (1999) ''Food technologies/technologies of the body : the social context of wine and oil production and consumption in Bronze Age Crete'' [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=2023344]</ref>. Equally, it is likely that the consumption of exotic or expensive products would have played a role in the presentation and articulation of political and economic power.

Farmers used wooden [[plow]]s, bound by leather to wooden handles, and pulled by pairs of [[donkey]]s or [[ox]]en.

The importance of marine resources in the Cretan diet is equally important to consider: the prevalence of edible molluscs in site material<ref>Dickinson, O (1994) ''The Aegean Bronze Age'' pg. 28)</ref>, and the artistic representations of marine fish and animals, including the distinctive "Octopus" stirrup jar (LM IIIC), indicate an appreciation and occasional use of fish within the economy. However, doubt remains over the functional significance of these resources in the wider Cretan diet, especially in relation to grain, olives and animal produce. Indeed, the intensification of agricultural activity is indicated by the construction of terraces and dams at Pseira in the Late Minoan period.

Not all plants and flora would have a purely functional or economic utility. Artistic depictions often show scenes of Lily gathering and performances within 'green' spaces. The fresco known as the "Sacred Grove" at Knossos, for instance, depicts a number of female figures facing towards the left-hand-side of the scene, flanked by a copse of trees. Some scholars have suggested that these depictions represent the performance of 'harvest festivals' or ceremonies, as a means to honour the continued fertility of the soil. Further artistic depictions of farming scenes are observed on the Second Palace Period "Harvester Vase" (an egg-shaped ''rhyton'', or pouring vessel), where 27 male figures, led by another, each carry hoes. This suggests the importance of farming as an artistic motif.

Much debate has been animated by the discovery of storage magazines within the palace compounds. At the second 'palace' at Phaistos, for instance, a range of rooms in the western side of the structure have been identified as a magazine block. Within these storage areas have been recovered numerous jars, jugs and vessels, indicating the role of the complex as a potential re-distribution centre of agricultural produce. Several possibilities may be suggested, including a model where all economic and agricultural produce was controlled by the Palace and re-distributed by it. At sites such as Knossos, where the town had developed to a considerable size (75 ha), there is evidence of craft specialisation, indicating workshops. The Palace of Kato Zakro, for instance, indicates workshops that were integrated into the structure of the palace. Such evidence contributes to the idea that the Minoan palatial system developed through economic intensification, where greater agricultural surplus could support a population of administrators, craftsmen and religious practitioners. The number of domestic, or sleeping, chambers at the Palaces indicate that they could have supported a large population of individuals who were removed from manual labour.

==Minoan Demise Theories==
{{main|Minoan eruption}}

The [[Minoan eruption]] on the island of [[Thera]] (present day [[Santorini]] about 100&nbsp;km distant from Crete) occurred during the LM&nbsp;IA period. This eruption was among the largest volcanic explosions in the history of civilization, ejecting approximately 60&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup> of material and rating a 6 on the [[Volcanic Explosivity Index]].<ref name=URI06>{{cite web|url=http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/?id=3654|title=Santorini eruption much larger than originally believed|year=2006|accessdate=2007-03-10}}</ref><ref name="McCoy2002">{{cite conference|author=McCoy, FW, & Dunn, SE|title=Modelling the Climatic Effects of the LBA Eruption of Thera: New Calculations of Tephra Volumes May Suggest a Significantly Larger Eruption than Previously Reported|booktitle=Chapman Conference on Volcanism and the Earth's Atmosphere |url=http://www.agu.org/meetings/cc02babstracts/McCoy.pdf|publisher=American Geographical Union|year=2002|location=Thera, Greece|accessdate=2007-05-29|format=PDF}}</ref><ref name="Sigurdsson">{{cite journal |author= Sigurdsson H, Carey, S, Alexandri M, Vougioukalakis G, Croff K, Roman C, Sakellariou D, Anagnostou C, Rousakis G, Ioakim C, Gogou A, Ballas D, Misaridis T, & Nomikou P |year = 2006 |title= Marine Investigations of Greece's Santorini Volcanic Field |journal= Eos |volume= 87 |issue= 34 |pages= 337–348 |url=http://www.uri.edu/endeavor/thera/EOS.pdf | doi = 10.1029/2006EO340001 |format= {{dead link|date=June 2008}} &ndash; <sup>[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=intitle%3AMarine+Investigations+of+Greece%27s+Santorini+Volcanic+Field&as_publication=Eos&as_ylo=2006&as_yhi=2006&btnG=Search Scholar search]</sup>}}</ref> The eruption devastated the nearby Minoan settlement at [[Akrotiri (Santorini)|Akrotiri]] on Santorini, which was entombed in a layer of [[pumice]].<ref>{{citeweb |title=Ye gods! Ancient volcano could have blasted Atlantis myth |last=Vergano |first=Dan |date=2006-08-27 |publisher= USA Today |url=http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/2006-08-27-ancient-volcano_x.htm |accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref>

It is further believed that the eruption severely affected the Minoan culture on Crete, although the extent of the impact has been debated. Early theories proposed that ashfall from Thera on the eastern half of Crete choked off plant life, causing starvation of the local population.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Marinatos, S | year = 1939 | title = The Volcanic Destruction of Minoan Crete | journal = Antiquity | volume = 13 | issue = | pages = 425–439 }}</ref> However, after more thorough field examinations, this theory has lost credibility, as it has been determined that no more than {{mm to in|5}} of ash fell anywhere on Crete.<ref>{{cite book|author=Callender, G|year=1999|title=The Minoans and the Mycenaeans: Aegean Society in the Bronze Age|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn= 0195510283}}</ref> Recent studies indicate, based on archeological evidence found on Crete, that a massive [[tsunami]], generated by the Theran eruption, devastated the coastal areas of Crete and destroyed many Minoan coastal settlements.<ref name=SinkingAtlantis>[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/?p=71], SecretsoftheDead</ref><ref name=BBCWave>{{citeweb |last=Lilley |first=Harvey |date=20 April 2007 |title=The wave that destroyed Atlantis |publisher= BBC Timewatch |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6568053.stm |accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref><ref name="Antonopoulos ">{{cite journal|author=Antonopoulos, J.|title=The great Minoan eruption of Thera volcano and the ensuing tsunami in the Greek Archipelago|journal=Natural Hazards|volume=5|year=1992|pages=153–168|doi=10.1007/BF00127003}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Pareschi, MT, Favalli, M & Boschi, E|title=Impact of the Minoan tsunami of Santorini: Simulated scenarios in the eastern Mediterranean|journal=Geophysical Research Letters|volume=33|page=L1860|year=2006|doi=10.1029/2006GL027205 | pages = L18607}}.</ref><ref name="LaMoreaux">{{cite journal|author=LaMoreaux, PE|year=1995|title=Worldwide environmental impacts from the eruption of Thera|journal=Environmental Geology|volume=26|issue=3|pages=172–181|doi=10.1007/BF00768739}}</ref>. The LM IIIA (Late Minoan) period is marked by its affluence (i.e., wealthy tombs, burials and art) and the ubiquity of Knossian ceramic styles<ref>Dickinson, O (1994) ''The Aegean Bronze Age'' pg. 22</ref>. However, by LM IIIB the importance of Knossos as a regional centre, and its material 'wealth', seem to have declined.

Significant Minoan remains have been found above the [[Minoan civilization|Late Minoan I]] era Thera ash layer, implying that the Thera eruption did not cause the immediate downfall of the Minoans. As the Minoans were a sea power and depended on their naval and merchant ships for their livelihood, the Thera eruption caused significant economic hardship to the Minoans. Whether these effects were enough to trigger the downfall of the Minoan civilization is under intense debate. The [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] conquest of the Minoans occurred in Late Minoan II period, not many years after the eruption, and many archaeologists speculate that the eruption induced a crisis in Minoan civilization, which allowed the Mycenaeans to conquer them easily.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Antonopoulos, J.|title=The great Minoan eruption of Thera volcano and the ensuing tsunami in the Greek Archipelago|journal=Natural Hazards|volume=5|year=1992|pages=153–168|doi=10.1007/BF00127003}}</ref>

The Minoan eruption provides for an important marking in chronically prehistoric archaeological sites. However, precise dating of the eruption is still disputed. [[Radiocarbon dating]] has suggested a date of about 1630 BC.<ref name="Manning">{{cite journal| last=Manning|first=Sturt W|authorlink=|coauthors=Ramsey, CB, Kutschera, W, Higham, T, Kromer, B, Steier, P, and Wild, EM|title=Chronology for the Aegean Late Bronze Age 1700-1400 B.C.|journal=Science|volume=312|issue=5773|pages=565–569|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science|year=2006|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;312/5773/565|doi=10.1126/science.1125682|id=|accessdate=2007-03-10|pmid=16645092}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| last=Friedrich|first=Walter L|authorlink=|coauthors= Kromer, B, Friedrich, M, Heinemeier, J, Pfeiffer, T, and Talamo, S|title=Santorini Eruption Radiocarbon Dated to 1627-1600 B.C.|journal=Science|volume=312|issue=5773|pages=548|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |year=2006|doi=10.1126/science.1125087|id=|accessdate=2007-03-10|pmid=16645088|unused_data=|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;312/5773/548}}</ref> These radiocarbon dates, however, conflict with the estimates of other archaeologists who synchronize the eruption with unearthed Egyptian artifacts and the [[Conventional Egyptian chronology]] arrive at a later date of around 1550 BC.<ref>{{citeweb |url=http://www.therafoundation.org/articles/chronololy/theeruptionoftheradateandimplications The Eruption of Thera |title=Date and Implications|accessdate=2008-03-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=New Carbon Dates Support Revised History of Ancient Mediterranean|author=Balter, M|journal=Science|volume=312|issue=5773|year=2006|pages=508–509|doi=10.1126/science.312.5773.508|url=|accessdate=2007-05-01|pmid=16645054}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Wilford, JN|url=http://www.columbusdispatch.com/dispatch/contentbe/dispatch/2006/05/09/20060509-D6-01.html|title=Ancient Crete more ancient than thought? New volcanic evidence suggests discrepancy of more than a full century|date=2006-05-09|publisher=The Columbus Dispatch|accessdate=2007-05-20}}</ref>

Several authors have noted evidence for exceedence of [[carrying capacity]] by the Minoan civilization. For example archaeological recovery at [[Knossos]] provides clear proof of [[deforestation]] of this part of Crete near late stages of Minoan development.<ref>Pendlebury, 2003</ref><ref>C. Michael Hogan (2007) ''Knossos fieldnotes'', The Modern Antiquarian [http://letmespeaktothedriver.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes]</ref>

==See also==
{{commonscat|Minoan civilization}}
* [[Linear A]]
* [[Peak sanctuaries]]
* [[Sacred caves]]
* [[Philistines]]
* [[Atlantis#Crete and Santorini|Atlantis]]
* [[Phaistos Disc]]
* [[Hyksos]]
* [[Herakleion Archaeological Museum]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
<div class="references-small">
*Benton, Janetta Rebold and DiYanni, Robert. ''Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities.'' Volume 1. Prentice Hall. New Jersey, 1998.
*Bourbon, F. ''Lost Civilizations''. Barnes and Noble, Inc. New York, 1998.
*Branigan, Keith, 1970. ''The Foundations of Palatial Crete''.
*Branigan, Keith, 1999. "The Nature of Warfare in the Southern Aegean During the Third Millennium B.C.," pp. 87-94 In Laffineur, Robert, ed., ''Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L'Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liege, 1998.'' Universite de Liege, Histoire de l'art d'archeologie de la Grece antique.
*Burkert, Walter, 1985. ''Greek Religion''. J. Raffan, trans. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press. ISBN 0-674-36281-0
*Cadogan, Gerald, 1992, " Ancient and Modern Crete," in Myers et al., 1992, ''Aerial Atlas of Ancient Crete''.
*{{cite book | first=Rodney | last=Castleden | authorlink= | coauthors= | year=1993 | title=Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete | edition= | publisher=Routledge | location= | id=041508833X }}
*Callender, Gae (1999) ''The Minoans and the Mycenaeans: Aegean Society in the Bronze Age'' Oxford university press, Victoria 3205, Australia
*Dickinson, Oliver (1994; 2005 re-print) ''The Aegean Bronze Age'', Cambridge World Archaeology, Cambridge University Press.
*Driessen, Jan, 1999."The Archaeology of Aegean Warfare," pp. 11-20 in Laffineur, Robert, ed., ''Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L'Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liege, 1998.'' Universite de Liege, Histoire de l'art d'archeologie de la Grece antique.
*[[Arthur Evans|Sir Arthur Evans]], 1921-35. ''The Palace of Minos: A Comparative Account of the Successive Stages of the Early Cretan Civilization as Illustrated by the Discoveries at Knossos'', 4 vols. in 6 (reissued 1964).
*Floyd, Cheryl, 1999. "Observations on a Minoan Dagger from Chrysokamino," pp. 433-442 In Laffineur, Robert, ed., ''Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L'Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liege, 1998.'' Universite de Liege, Histoire de l'art d'archeologie de la Grece antique.
*Gates, Charles, 1999. "Why Are There No Scenes of Warfare in Minoan Art?" pp 277-284 In Laffineur, Robert, ed., ''Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L'Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liege, 1998.'' Universite de Liege, Histoire de l'art d'archeologie de la Grece antique.
*Hägg, R. and N. Marinatos, eds. ''The Minoan Thalassocracy: Myth and Reality'' (Stockholm) 1994. A summary of revived points-of-view of a Minoan thalassocracy, especially in LMI..
*{{Harvard reference | Surname=Gesell | Given=G.C. | Year= 1983 | Chapter=The Place of the Goddess in Minoan Society | Editor=O. Krzyszkowska and L. Nixon | Title=Minoan Society | Edition= | Publisher= | Place=Bristol | URL= | Access-date= }}
*[[Lucy Goodison|Goodison, Lucy]], and Christine Morris, 1998, "Beyond the Great Mother: The Sacred World of the Minoans," in Goodison, Lucy, and Christine Morris, eds., ''Ancient Goddesses: The Myths and the Evidence'', London: British Museum Press, pp. 113-132.
*Hawkes, Jacquetta, 1968. ''Dawn of the Gods.'' New York: Random House. ISBN 0-7011-1332-4
*Higgins, Reynold, 1981. ''Minoan and Mycenaean Art'', (revised edition).
*Hood, Sinclair, 1971, ''The Minoans: Crete in the Bronze Age''. London.
*Hood, Sinclair, 1971. ''The Minoans: The Story of Bronze Age Crete''
*Hughes, Dennis, 1991. ''Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece.'' Routledge: London.
*Hutchinson, Richard W., 1962. ''Prehistoric Crete'' (reprinted 1968)
*Kristiansen, Kristiansen & Larsson, Thomas B. (2005) ''The Rise of Bronze Age Society: Travels, Transmissions and Transformations'' Cambridge University Press
*Krzszkowska, Olga, 1999. "So Where's the Loot? The Spoils of War and the Archaeological Record," pp. 489-498 In Laffineur, Robert, ed., ''Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L'Age du Bronze.'' ''Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liege, 1998.'' Université de Liege, Histoire de l'art d'archeologie de la Grece antique.
*Lapatin, Kenneth, 2002. ''Mysteries of the Snake Goddess: Art, Desire, and the Forging of History''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-306-81328-9
*Manning, S.W., 1995. "An approximate Minoan Bronze Age chronology" in A.B. Knapp, ed., ''The absolute chronology of the Aegean Early Bronze Age: Archaeology, radiocarbon and history'' (Appendix 8), in series ''Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology'', Vol. 1 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press) A standard current Minoan chronology.
*Marinatos, Nanno, 1993. ''Minoan Religion: Ritual, Image, and Symbol''. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.
*[[Spyridon Marinatos|Marinatos, Spyridon]], 1960. ''Crete and Mycenae'' (originally published in Greek, 1959), photographs by Max Hirmer.
*[[Spyridon Marinatos|Marinatos, Spyridon]], 1972. "Life and Art in Prehistoric Thera," in ''Proceedings of the British Academy'', vol 57.
*Mellersh, H.E.L., 1967. ''Minoan Crete.'' New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons.
*Nixon, L., 1983. "Changing Views of Minoan Society," in L. Nixon, ed. ''Minoan society: Proceedings of the Cambridge Colloquium, 1981.''
*Pendlebury, J.D.S., 2003. ''Handbook to the Palace of Minos at Knossos with Its Dependencies'', republication of earlier work with contributor Arthur Evans, Kessinger Publishing, 112 pages ISBN 0766139166
*Quigley, Carroll, 1961. ''The Evolution of Civilizations: An Introduction to Historical Analysis,'' Indianapolis: Liberty Press.
* Papadopoulos, John K., "Inventing the Minoans: Archaeology, Modernity and the Quest for European Identity", ''Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology'' '''18''':1:87-149 (June 2005)
* Pichler, H & Friedrich, W, L (1980) ''Mechanism of the Minoan Eruption of Santorini'', in ''Thera and the Aegean World'', vol.2, ed. C. Doumas, London
*Preziosi, Donald & Hitchcock, Louise A. (1999) ''Aegean Art and Architecture'', Oxford History of Art series, Oxford University Press.
*Rehak, Paul, 1999. "The Mycenaean 'Warrior Goddess' Revisited," pp. 227-240, in Laffineur, Robert, ed. ''Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L'Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liege, 1998. Universite de Liege, Histoire de l'art d'archeologie de la Grece antique.''
*Schoep, Ilse, 2004. "Assessing the role of architecture in conspicuous consumption in the Middle Minoan I-II Periods." ''Oxford Journal of Archaeology'' vol 23/3, pp. 243-269.
*{{cite journal | author= Sakellarakis, Y. and E. Sapouna-Sakellarakis| title= Drama of Death in a Minoan Temple | journal=National Geographic | year=1981 | volume=159 | issue=2 | pages= 205&ndash;222 | url= }}
*Soles, Jeffrey S., 1992, ''The Prepalatial Cemeteries at Mochlos and Gournia and the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete: And the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete'', Published by ASCSA, 1992.
*Warren P., Hankey V., 1989. ''Aegean Bronze Age Chronology'' (Bristol).
*Watrous, L. Vance., 1991 ''The Origin and Iconography of the Late Minoan Painted Larnax'' in ''Hesperia, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1991)'', pp. 285-307
*Willetts, R. F., 1976 (1995 edition). ''The Civilization of Ancient Crete''. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN 1-84212-746-2
*Yule, Paul. ''Early Cretan Seals: A Study of Chronology''. Marburger Studien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte 4, Mainz 1980'' ISBN 3-8053-0490-0
</div>


== External links ==
==External links==
{{Commonscat|Bree Olson}}
* [http://www.therafoundation.org/ Thera Foundation]
*{{MySpace|breeolson9}}
* [http://au.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564658/Minoan_Civilization.html Minoan Civilization] (Encarta)
*[http://eros-ny.com/articles/2007-12-21/bree_olson122107/ "Bree Olson"], interview by Johnny Homicide, [[2007-12-21]], ''Eros Zine''. Retrieved [[2007-12-27]].
* Donald A. MacKenzie, ''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/moc/index.htm MYTHS OF CRETE & PRE-HELLENIC EUROPE]'', 1917, etext at sacred-texts.com. This is a very thorough text, but given its age and so on, much of its analysis and many of its statements need to be taken with a grain of salt.
*[http://rockconfidential.com/magazine/interviews/bree-olson-interview/ "Bree Olson Interview"], by Jesse Capps, July 24, 2007, ''Rock Confidential''. Retrieved [[2007-12-27]].
* [http://www.uk.digiserve.com/mentor/minoan/ Photos and information on Minoan Crete archaeological sites]
*[http://blog.adultdvdtalk.com/2007/01/bree_olson_buzz_blonde.html "Bree Olson Podcast Interview"], by Adult DVD Talk, January, 2007.
* [http://www.matala-holidays.gr/knossos.php The Palace of Minoan Civilization]


{{Penthouse Pets of 2008}}
[[Category:Aegean civilization]]
{{porn-actor-stub}}
[[Category:Minoan civilization| ]]there it was the most famouse of them all it was the most famouse british
{{Lifetime|1986||Olson, Bree}}
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:American porn stars]]
[[Category:Female porn stars]]
[[Category:People from Houston, Texas]]
[[Category:Ukrainian-Americans]]


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[[bs:Minojska civilizacija]]
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[[is:Mínóísk menning]]
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[[he:התרבות המינואית]]
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[[lt:Mino civilizacija]]
[[hu:Minószi civilizáció]]
[[nl:Minoïsche beschaving]]
[[ja:クレタ文明]]
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[[sk:Minojská kultúra]]
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[[uk:Мінойська культура]]
[[zh:米诺斯文明]]

Revision as of 13:08, 11 October 2008

Template:Female adult bio Bree Olson (born October 7, 1986) is an American pornographic actress and Penthouse Pet.[1]

Biography

Olson was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in Woodburn, Indiana. After graduating from Woodlan high school in 2005 she went to Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne where she was a Pre-Medicine Biology major. She was recently signed to Adam & Eve Films for a one year contract starting August 1, 2007.[2]

She has been cited in many web articles that her biggest hero is her grandmother, a concentration camp survivor.[3]

She has been also named Penthouse Pet of the Month for March 2008[1] and appeared as the cover girl of issue 13 of Hustler. (UK Edition March 2008)

Olson has said she is an atheist, saying in one interview "I'm atheist. I know that when you die, there's no heaven, so that really bums me out. I wish I could be Christian and say I'm going to heaven but I know I'm not. It sucks to know the truth."[4]

However, her MySpace page describes her as an agnostic. [5]

Olson was seen on the reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians on E!: Entertainment Television. She had a small role as the nanny who was fired on her first day.[6][7]

Olson has made several appearances on Opie and Anthony and The Howard Stern Show.

Filmography

She started in the adult industry in 2006 doing gonzo type productions through various internet websites. She has currently performed in over 80 adult movies and starred in many of them.[8]

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b "Penthouse Magazine".
  2. ^ AVN:Adam & Eve Signs Bree Olson
  3. ^ Bree Olson Interview
  4. ^ "Bree Olson Interview". lukeisback.com. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  5. ^ "Bree Olson MySpace.com". MySpace.com. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  6. ^ Did the Kardashians Hire a Porn Star Nanny?
  7. ^ Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Managing Mom
  8. ^ bree olson - porn star - dvd and videos and more - filmography - iafd.com - internet adult film database
  9. ^ http://www.avn.com/index.cfm?objectID=91BDDEEC-A7E5-43A7-A7810D8CA48D91E3&slid=281475 "NightMoves Award Winners Announced"], By Peter Warren, October 11, 2007, Adult Video News. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  10. ^ "Adultcon Names Top 20 Adult Actresses Honor Roll". XBiz. 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
  11. ^ Jared Rutter (2008-01-12). "2008 AVN Awards Winners Announced". AVN. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  12. ^ David Sullivan (2008-06-07). "2008 F.A.M.E. Winners Announced at Erotica LA". AVN. Retrieved 2008-06-08.

External links

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