For Games or For Gods?
An Investigation of Minoan Cup-Holes

By Niklas Hillbom
December 2003
Paul Astroms Forlag
ISBN: 91-7081-135-0
96 pages, Illustrated, 8 ½" x 11 ¾"
$72.50 Paper Original

---

The so-called Minoan cup-holes - what are they? Many stones from the Minoan period from all over Crete have enigmatic holes cut into their surfaces, arranged into different designs. They were cut at many locations and were made during many centuries. Who made them, and for what purpose? Perhaps they served different purposes; is it possible to treat them all together in the first place?

The Minoan cup-holes have been discussed by several scholars but there is no overall treatment and the previous studies, often discussing one or a few single sets of cup-holes, have resulted in contradictory conclusions. They might not be the most spectacular of archaeological finds, but I think a new investigation is well motivated. Is it possible, by treating them not singly but all together, to see what functions are most likely?

To define what is, and what is not, a figure of cup-holes, and to determine what sorts of material should be included, is an important part of the present study. Any study of cup-holes depends greatly upon these considerations, and it is necessary to constantly examine the material with the definitions and limits used in previous studies.

Archaeology
Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology Vol. CXXXII

Return to Coronet Books main page