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would suggest that by the fifteenth century bce, saffron stigmas had evolved into a symbol
for a saffron goddess. If so, the presence of a saffron priestess standing at the altar at the
head of the procession may indicate that a saffron goddess enjoyed primacy among the
vegetation goddesses of Crete.The Shaft Graves of Mycenae
There is little artistic evidence for warfare in Minoan society during the Bronze Age,
although scholars are divided on the question of just how peaceful Minoan society really
was.^56 It was once thought that Crete lacked any fortifications suggestive of warfare.
However, later excavations have shown that some early settlements were either built on hill-
tops or included some degree of fortifications. Weapons, such as swords, have been found
in male burials, and their excellent quality suggests that they became the prototypes for
two important sword types of the Mycenaeans.^57 Whether or not the Minoan swords were
actually used in warfare or were ceremonial is still being debated.^58 Compared to their Near
Eastern neighbors, however, Minoans were far less warlike, and perhaps because of this they
were able to evolve a relatively peaceful society that persisted for nearly 2,000 years. In addi-
tion, their strong navy may have served to discourage potential invaders.
The Minoans engaged in widespread international trade facilitated by the development
of the longboat in the third millennium bc. In the course of this trade, they encountered
another Bronze Age civilization in the northeastern Peloponnese, on the Greek mainland.
This civilization was called the “Mycenaean” by its discoverer, Heinrich Schliemann, after
its most famous archaeological site, the city of Mycenae. Schliemann, a German business-
man who had retired to pursue his passion for archaeology, had already excavated the site of
Troy from 1871 to 1873. In 1876, he began excavating the ancient site of Mycenae, where he
hoped to discover the Palace of Agamemnon, the Greek king who led the assault on Troy
in Homer’s The Iliad.
Schliemann literally struck gold when he discovered a series of vertical, or “shaft,” graves
filled with gold jewelry, silver vessels, bronze weapons, and finely painted pottery. Among
these was a stunning golden funeral mask found on the face of a skeleton in one of the
burial shafts, which Schliemann identified as the death mask of Agamemnon.^59 However,
even if one assumes that Agamemnon was a historical figure rather than a fictional hero, the
shaft graves of Mycenae have been shown to date to the sixteenth century bce, whereas the
Trojan War, if it occurred, was fought in the thirteenth century bce. The Mycenaean shaft
graves thus predate the events that inspired the Iliad— which weren’t written down until
the eighth or seventh century bce— by 400 to 500 years.Who Were the Mycenaeans?
The sudden appearance of so much gold in the shaft graves, without apparent antecedents
in the region, has long puzzled archaeologists and has led to various theories to account
for such a rich hoard. First, there is the question of where the shaft grave rulers obtained
the gold, which is relatively scarce on the mainland. International trade, possibly with
Transylvania, has been suggested as the source of the gold.^60