Minoan religion

Evidence consists of:
location of cult activity
depictions of cult activity in art
cultic furniture/implements
garbled memories in Greek

caves inhabitation sites in Neolithic
cemeteries at end of Neolithic and into EM
cult places in MM (Protopalatial)
richest votive objects in Cave of Eileithyia, Cave Kamares, Dictean Cave, Idean Cave, Cave of Arkalochori

peak sanctuaries beginning in MM, some continue into LM IIIA
can be hilltops, not necessarily peaks of actual mountains
still many too remote for day-to-day use
deep layers of ash with no bones (bonfires, not sacrifices)
clay animal & human figurines
close connection between palaces and peak sanctuaries: finest Kamares pottery, tables of offerings, Linear A on things other than unbaked clay tablets

Sanctuary Rhyton
Goddess of Myrtos
Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus, depicts unusual scenes of funerary/ritual/cultic activity

Knossos throne room complex first and foremost cultic, not display of political power
LM IIIA2 ca 1385 burned down, ritual may have been in progress

some double axes functional, others obviously only ceremonial
horns of consecration, origin uncertain (bulls horns? crescent? horizon/mountains? odd form of pot support?)
kernos: a ceramic vessel consisting of multiple receptacles of the same shape
Minoan genii corruption of Ta-wrt, Egyptian hippopotamus deity

Moreover, there is very little evidence from Greek Mainland sites for a Mycenaean cult of the dead persisting for any appreciable length of time after an individual's burial.

Snake goddess, interpreted as a household deity, does not appear on seals,
Mistress of the Beasts
Goddess of Vegetation (?)
male divinities
evidence for human sacrifice at Archanes
18 yo male
28 yo female
late 30s male
1 indeterminate
last 3 killed by falling debris from the collapsing building, first already dead from blood loss
North House at Knossos 4 children in perfect health, bones with cut marks like butchery (cannibalism clearly indicated)

Shaft Graves

True shaft graves relatively rare
MH - LH I Lerna
1600-1500 GCA
1650-1550 GCB
shaft = enlarged cist grave entered through the roof from a shaft
Mycenaean GCA&B may have been covered with low tumuli, or not
GCA&B larger, more robust inhabitants
multiple burial common in shafts, single in cist/pits
adult females don't get masks
grave steles not universal
decorated tombstones restricted to GCA&B, one 12th century exception
Type A swords longer, Type B swords shorter

Siege Rhyton
Battle Krater
Stag Rhyton (possibly imported from Anatolia)
gold vessels clumsy, probably local, not as good as Minoan craftsmanship
silver vessels better, imports or Minoan craftsmen working at Mycenae
seals & signet rings
amber from the Baltic, through a trade network that did not involve Crete at all
Gray & Yellow Minyan

DP doesn't believe
1) Shaft Grave princes were Cretan conquerors
2) they were European princes (Europe had no chariots, Mycenae not the best place to settle)
3) Shaft Grave princes looted Neopalatial Crete
4) Shaft Grave princes were were well-rewarded princes working for the Egyptian princes of Thebes, who drove the Hyksos out after 1570 (too sudden when Mycenaean wealth accumulates over a century)
no evidence for major destruction levels on Crete at this time

DP believes special relationship between Mycenaean prince and Cretan ruler(s)
Cretans had shipfaring technology, Mycenaeans did not
Possibilities:
1) tribute from Knossos to Mycenae. Not likely.
2) payment for raw material found on the mainland (but no likely candidates)
3) payment for raw material controlled by mainland, like tin
tin obtained from Near East during Old Palatial period, but trade networks may have broken down due to rise of Hittites, military expansion on the part of the Kassites and Hurrians, and conflict between Egyptians and Hyksos
or gold [Davis' theory]
Minoans worked gold sparingly, made it stretch
Mycenaeans worked vast amounts of gold crudely, no need to make it stretch
Minoans had lots of silver, Mycenaean silver objects were of Minoan make
So maybe the Mycenaeans controlled gold, a trade with Transylvania, a brief and short-lived control
certain early Aegean sword types found in Romania
Unusually specific theory, but has the merit of being falsifiable