What happened to the Minoan civilization?

Knossos is a city built by the Minoans. It has a palace the size of two football fields. (Image credit: SCStock via Shutterstock) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Between roughly 2000 and 1500 B.C., the Minoan civilization flourished on Crete and nearby islands, building palaces decorated with frescoes, engaging in athletic activities such as bull leaping, and creating written scripts that experts have never been able to decipher . One of the most important cities they constructed was at Knossos, on the northern coast of Crete, and it contained a palace the size of two football fields . Around 1500 B.C. their written scripts stopped being used and Minoan palaces show evidence of decline and destruction. So how did this civilization end? Scholars have proposed a wide variety of explanations, including a volcanic eruption , earthquakes , climate change , the disruption of trade routes , and conflict with the Mycenaeans , a group from the Greek mainland. However, the civilization may have had a less-dramatic ending, experts told Live Science. What was the Minoan civilization? SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER (Image credit: Marilyn Perkins / Future) Sign up for our weekly Life's Little Mysteries newsletter to get the latest mysteries before they appear online. The Minoan civilization got its name from the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans, who excavated the remains of Knossos in the early 20th century. Evans named the civilization after King Minos who, according to ancient legends, ruled Crete and constructed a labyrinth where a minotaur was kept. The Minoans flourished during the "Bronze Age" (3300 to 1200 B.C.), and they are known for their palaces decorated with marine motifs such as dolphins. To figure out what happened to the Minoans, scholars need to define exactly what Minoan civilization was and determine how different it was from the Mycenaean civilization that thrived on Crete after 1500 B.C. The Mycenaeans were based on the Greek mainland, and they boasted a warrior-elite society that inspired Homeric epics as well as a religion with deities similar to the later Olympic gods. The Mycenaeans are sometimes considered to be the earliest Greeks. The interior of the palace at Knossos, which was excavated and restored by archaeologist Arthur Evans in the early 20th century. (Image cred