Propylaeum

The study at hand focusses on ‚simple‘ households, which often are being neglected in favor of the great villas and palaces. The great number of household findings show that the majority of the Minoan population did not reside in the villas or palaces, but lived and, as will be shown, also worked in modest housings. The household as a social entity and household activities that were part of everyday life within this entity are being portrayed. This is only possible on the basis of excavated residences as well as installations and findings located within them. The theoretical exposition for research on households in archaeology is followed by the chronologically structured main part. The latter focusses on the Neopalatial Period and further includes findings from the Prepalatial and Old Palatial Periods. Residences of different sizes and from different settlement contexts (palatial, non-palatial, detached, adjacent) are being described and evaluated. Due to the scarcity of relevant source material the part about iconographic evidences, which gives information on households and everyday life, is much shorter. A comprehensive evaluation improves the perspective on the households’ economic system and thus of Minoan society. It becomes apparent that the detailed documentation of household findings is the imperative prerequisite for rewarding research of archaeological households. But even then statements about the social dimension of the respective household, of its size and composition, cannot be made.