MINOAN
TECHNOLOGY
SYLLABUS
 BUILDING
MATERIALS
 TECHNIQUES
 CONSTRUCTION (ASHLAR MASONRY)
 DRAINAGE
 WATER SUPPLY
BUILDING MATERIALS AND
TECHNIQUES
 The
Minoans used a combination of
construction materials.
 STONE – used for foundations and lower
storeys
 SUN DRIED BRICKS – used on the upper
storeys. This could have allowed some
flexibility in the case of earth tremors
 TIMBER – used for the framework of the
upper storeys
 The
stone, clay and timber were all native
products to Crete.
 Stone
pillars and wooden columns
supported the upper storeys.
 These columns were tapered at the top,
unlike Greek and Roman columns.
 Light
wells allowed light into upper and
lower rooms.
 Most
windows were unglazed although a
few were fitted with a thin semitransparent alabaster that allowed light
into the rooms but could not be seen
through.
CONSTRUCTION (ASHLAR
MASONRY)
 Ashlar
is prepared stonework of any type
of stone.
 The
Minoans used ashlar masonry,
smooth, square or rectangular cut stones
to construct walls or to face existing walls
made from rubble or sun dried bricks.
 This is most evident in the palaces.
 Most houses were made from sun dried
bricks.
 Floors
were covered with gypsum or
limestone.
GYPSUM
 Is
a naturally occurring mineral that can
look like fine white sand.
 In other places where it is found it is like an
opaque crystal.
 It was used in Crete as a wood substitute.
 However, it does eventually dissolve over
time in water.
LIMESTONE
A
hard rock substance found near the
surface.
 It is used in many building projects around
the world.
FRESCOES
 Walls
in the palaces were often covered
with plaster and painted with frescoes.
 The frescoes were painted while the
plaster was still wet so the images are
relatively permanently on the walls.
DRAINAGE AND WATER SUPPLY
 By
far one of the most extraordinary
elements of Minoan society was their
drainage and water supply.
 The Minoans were the first civilisation to
use underground clay pipes for sanitation
and water supply – 1500 years before the
Romans.
 The
palaces of Crete had a well
organised water system for bringing n
clean water, taking out waste water and
storm sewerage canals for flow off from
heavy rain.
 They also devised elaborate heating
systems.
 At
palaces such as Knossos, the Minoans
took advantage of the steep lie of the
land to transport water to and from the
palaces.
 The water was transported using
channels, clay pipes and aqueducts.
 Stone
drainage
Found at Agia Triadha
 Clay
sewer pipe from
Knossos.
 Archaeologists
have found pipe laid in
depths from just below the surface in one
area to almost 11 feet deep in others.

They constructed a main sewer of masonry,
which linked four large stone shafts
emanating from the upper stories of the
palace. Evidently the shafts acted as
ventilators and chutes for household refuse.
The shafts and conduit were formed by
cement-lined limestone flags, but
earthenware or burnt clay pipes were used in
the remainder of the system. These were laid
out under passages, not under the living
rooms.
 The
sewer system consisted of terra cotta
pipes, from 4"-6" in diameter.
 At
Knossos we find the earliest known
flushing toilet. The toilet was screened off
by partitions and was flushed by rain
water or by water held in cisterns from
conduits built into the wall.
 There’s
also a bath. Although there are no
taps to it, it had a plug at the bottom
where water was drained through the
pipe system.
 This was found in
The Queen’s
bathroom
At Knossos.
 Not
just palaces but ordinary homes were
heated with sophisticated hypocaust
systems, where heat was conducted
under the floor, the earliest known to exist.