W_Sheppard_Baird (Tourist) 03/02/08 08:10 AM View in Google Earth	The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Source: MinoanAtlantis.com Updated: June 21st, 2008 Update Notes: Since the introduction of this dataset last March, Google Earth has significantly increased its high resolution coverage of Crete and the Aegean. As a result many more sites such as Ayia Photia and the Koumasa tholos tombs have been precisely located and are now viewable. "97" Minoan Archaeological Sites and Geographical Features Over the past year, I've had a large archaeological (Neolithic through the Bronze Age) and mineralogical geospatial (GIS) database of Europe and the Mediterranean Basin based on Google Earth compiled for my own research purposes. I have decided to begin sharing some of this database and the discoveries I have made from it with other interested users. This dataset is my first public offering and includes the sites listed below for the Aegean Minoans of Crete and Thera. Each one of the sites has a link to additional descriptive and visual information with some exceptions. Wherever possible I have included 3D virtual reality panoramas like Bruce Hartzler's excellent Metis QTVR catalog and the British School at Athens' 3D virtual reality tour of Knossos. All sites that had entries on Ian Swindale's Minoan Crete site are linked to it. Sites that had no entries are linked to other free sources of information. I would like to thank all those that assisted in this effort and I especially want to acknowledge the very generous contribution of Ian Swindale (Minoan Crete) whose on-site GPS readings and additions have significantly enhanced the dataset. Every entry has been validated and verified for quality assurance. I would sincerely appreciate any additions, corrections, comments, or suggestions that anyone may have. Best Regards, W. Sheppard Baird www.minoanatlantis.com Crete: Caves: Arkalochori Eileithyia Psychro Idaean Kamares Geographical Features: Lassithi Plateau Mesara Plain Mt Dikte Mt Ida Mt Pachnes Tallaia Mountains Palaces: Chania (Kydonia) Galatas Gournia Knossos Mallia Phaistos Zakros (Kato Zakros) Peak Sanctuaries: Atsipadhes Korakias Iuktas Petsofas Sites: Achladia Amnisos Anemospilia Apodoulou Archanes Armeni Ayia Photia Ayia Triadha Ayios Georgios Chamaizi Chrysokamino Chrysolakos Fournou Koryphi Fylaki Gortys Kalathiana Karphi Kastro at Kavousi Klimataria Kommos Lebena Makriyialos Matala Mochlos Monastiraki Myrtos-Pyrgos Nerokourou Nirou Khani Palaikastro Petras Poros-Katsamba Priniatikos Pyrgos Pseira Simi Sklavokambos Stylos Kiln Stylos Settlement Tripiti Tylisos Vasiliki Vathypetro Zominthos Zou Tholos Tombs: Apesokari Apodoulou Kamilari Koumasa Krasi Nea Roumata Nekropolis Minois Odigitria Phourni Platanos Stylos Yerokambos Cyclades & Aegean Islands: Akrotiri - Thera (Santorini) Ayia Irini - Keos (Kea) Emporio - Chios Ialysos - Rhodes Kastri - Kythera Kastri - Syros Kephala - Keos (Kea) Mikri Vigla - Naxos Paroikia - Paros Phylakopi - Milos Poliohni - Limnos Serraglio - Kos Skouries - Kythnos Thermi - Lesbos Trianda - Rhodes Mainland Greece: Kolonna Pylos Western Anatolia: Iasos Knidos Miletus Troy
judithweingarten (Tourist) 03/03/08 12:47 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Thanks for posting this on AegeaNet. I have no trouble getting the maps, but I'm unable to open the .kmz file in Google Earth. Is this just my problem, or a more general one?
W_Sheppard_Baird (Tourist) 03/03/08 06:40 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Dear Judith, You are the only one that has so far indicated a problem. Are you having this problem with any of the other posts? Best Regards, W. Sheppard Baird http://www.minoanatlantis.com
judithweingarten (Tourist) 03/03/08 06:50 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Everything else seems to work. It could just be my abysmal inexperience with Google Earth and its files. Do let me know if it turns out to be a more general problem (with a solution). Judith
W_Sheppard_Baird (Tourist) 03/03/08 07:23 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Dear Judith, It doesn't appear to be a general problem. If you wish, contact me through the Aegeanet or send me an email directly from my website by clicking on the Contact selection in the top right of any web page. I can then walk you through the problem and give you instructions on how to use Google Earth. Very Best Regards, W. Sheppard Baird http://www.minoanatlantis.com
LuciaM (Master Guide) 03/03/08 07:53 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Try this, Judith: Open an Explorer window (Windows Key + E) Go to Tools > Folder Options> File Type tab. Scroll down to the kmz and kml file types. Highlight each one and click the 'restore' button. That should do it.
W_Sheppard_Baird (Tourist) 03/05/08 07:22 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Dear Lucia, I haven't heard anything back from Judith so I think she is doing fine and able to view the dataset. I just wanted to thank you for your "Master Guide" technical assistance in helping her. Best Regards, W. Sheppard Baird
geveN (Cartographer) 03/12/08 12:30 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Hello W Sheppard Baird, very impressive, and from just reading the bare post............. I will go to "view in GE" or "view in GE map" after this response..............one more addition to the growing list of professional and well researched posts on GEC!!! Five globes from me!!!! Have you got more data that brings us closer to find out why this civilisation vanished? Is the Santorini eruption still seen as the cause of the disappearance of the Minoan civilisation.............. here is a picture from me, I remember from school days(48 years) and later read ups on this. Ofcourse, the picture here is borrowed from wikipedia ...............but then thats the internet boom!!!! the very famous fresco at the Minoan palace at Knossos, I remember from far back in my school history textbook!!!
geveN (Cartographer) 03/12/08 03:32 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Between my first response and this one, I have been busy reading from your website minoanatlantis.com and read your preface, for Minoan Psychopath, first.................very educative. I then went on to read your publication section: The Origin of the Sea Peoples. My previous readups on the Minoans and the Mediterranean world, left an impression that the Minoans and the later Mycenaean peoples were confined to the eastern part of this world with some trading links to the western parts of Mediterranean Europe. Your write up The Origin of the Sea Peoples conclusively shows that the whole of this region was one great civilisation!!! And , one corrects the lop-sided perception that ancient civilisations on a large scale were confined to areas from the eastern part of the Mediterranean eastwards - Minoans in Crete, eastwards to include Eygptians and Hittites and Mittani, and Sumerians/ Mesopotamia, and the Elamites etc in Iran, to the Indus Valley centres..........and then through the desserts of Central Asia to China( the last a little later!!!) The correct picture is one huge sweep of civilisations from Spain through the whole mediterranean world and then eastwards as detailed above. Thank you. The Minoans and their western reach all the way to Spain is geographically in Europe...........but I would love to know if these peoples were Europeans as we understand for later periods..........can you throw some light on this? You are a very valued addition to the GEC family!!! geveN
TheLedge (Master Guide) 03/12/08 03:41 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Very nice, thanks. I think we can put this in Moderated.
W_Sheppard_Baird (Tourist) 03/12/08 08:00 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Dear geveN, Thank you so much for your kind words. The three main publications to look at are: The Early Minoan Colonization of Spain The Origin of the Sea Peoples The Minoan Catastrophe: The Pyroclastic Surge Theory "The Early Minoan Colonization of Spain" starts with the first archaeological evidence (before 9000 BC) for human sea travel in the Mediteranean and discusses the development of the technologies and motivations that led to the settlements of the Aegean Minoans in Iberia. I'm currently doing research for a major expansion of the article "The Origin of the Sea Peoples" which will include very compelling archaeological evidence from the Levant that clarifies what really happened at the end of the Bronze Age. And, yes, it appears that ancient people from the Aegean and Anatolia are definitely a genetic component of the current European population. I hope that future differential Y-chromosome and other genetic studies will put this in a more definitive light. Very Best Regards, W. Sheppard Baird
W_Sheppard_Baird (Tourist) 03/12/08 08:07 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Dear TheLedge, Thank you very much for the recognition. I have received about six GPS coordinate corrections from my associates in Crete since I last published the dataset. Is there a way of inserting just the new updated dataset without deleting the whole post? Best Regards, W. Sheppard Baird
Noisette (Master Guide) 03/12/08 01:33 PM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Add the new placemarks to the file, save it to your PC as a .kmz file, then just edit your post, and in the preview screen, you can browse and "Choose" the new version of the file. Submit that, and it will replace the previous version in the post.
geveN (Cartographer) 03/13/08 07:21 PM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Hello W Sheppard Baird, Your research and erudition are superb, concise and very informative What particularly also impressed me is your new information of cities before Jericho!!! , in your extensive introduction to the first publication-Early Minoan Colo. of Spain. I wish you would write in similar way of the Beaker peoples and other prehistoric peoples of Eurasia, I have read some material on this but it has left me more confused. What I understand is that those huge migration of various tribal and ethnic groups over Eurasia took place in various millenia since 15000 B.C. through the Neolithic and then Bronze ages and finally the Indo-European migrations, then the Celtic, Hunnic, Germanic, whatever, groups that then shaped today's profile of peoples accross this vast region. Why I asked you about the genetic make-up of these Aegean peoples is because, elsewhere, the DNA profiles dont explain the "change" of and evolution of peoples, even as "recently" as 3000 B.C. For example, the Pharonic depiction of faces etc seem to indicate they had strong Nubian features-look at the profiles of Nefretiti, a classic example of Nubian features. By contrast, the present population is largely Arab-African. Similarly, In ancient (not so ancient!!!!) Pre-Islamic Persia, on which I read extensively, the DNA components do not explain how the present population has links with the Indo- European Aryans, with the huge influx of Arab, then Turkic, Mongloid,Hunnic, again Turkic migrations (some of them very sudden!!!) there. geveN
W_Sheppard_Baird (Tourist) 03/15/08 06:40 PM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Hi geveN, Thank you for your very kind words on my publications. I have a special interest in the Beaker peoples and have looked at a good deal of the evidence, but my research is still ongoing and incomplete. I plan on writing a piece on the “Iberian Maritime Bell Beaker Package” in the near future. Your questions on the genetic character of the peopling of Eurasia in the last several millennia are excellent. But, this is currently beyond my expertise mainly because of the scarcity of definitive DNA analytical studies of the actual human remains found in the graves and tombs of Eurasian prehistory. For instance, I would love to see some rigorous comparative DNA studies of the human remains found in the Early Bronze Age Mesara tholos tombs on Crete and among the Millarens in Iberia, but to the best of my knowledge none have ever been published. Best Regards, Sheppard
geveN (Cartographer) 03/18/08 03:55 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Hi Sheppard, where best can one get a somewhat full overview of the migrations of peoples through Eurasia? I have never given much effort to finding out what material is available in our local civic libraries in Auckland, but what little I have searched has proved very unsatisfactory. Besides the internet is a good place.......wikipedia, for example? look at this very interesting map of Europe of the middle neolithic period from wikpedia. do look at this wikipedia-prehistoric Europe and the related links within the extensive writeup. Geve
W_Sheppard_Baird (Tourist) 03/20/08 05:25 PM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Hi Geve, That's another great question. When I first started researching Eurasian prehistory I took a look at Wikipedia and found it to be a decent broad overview but not good enough to be considered definitive. The more I delved into the scholarly literature the more I realized that the only way for me to discover some semblance of the overall truth was to study the archaeological evidence on a case by case basis. It was quite a bit of work. I think a good place to start for the Neolithic is "Europe's First Farmers" by Price and take a look at some of the other publications in the bibliography for my "Early Minoan Colonization of Spain" article. I hope this helps. Sheppard
geveN (Cartographer) 04/02/08 01:37 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Hi Sheppard, I am sorry I took time replying; this is because my favorite topics list is not working as it is supposed to. When you leave a post in favorites, any further response is supposed to show up by the post "shifting" to the bottom of the list and a flag displaying "new" .....................this does not happen.............perhaps this is some wrong conclusion by me. Anyways, I just happened to open this post today and was pleasantly surprised to see your latest reply. Actually I am looking for a ................whats the right word?................a summarised and pictoral analysis, perhaps some sort of linear dated and detailed timeline that gives the movements of peoples accross Eurasia from neolithic times (or earlier) to around 1000 A.D................something that led, for one example, to the eventual evolement of the centum and satem branches of Indo-European languages. For example, by the first millenium B.C. the peoples of Spain are supposed to have got a huge "input" of Asian migrations........the Alans joined the ostro-Goths(???)(my memory does not live up to my requirements!!!) ............the Alans from central Asia joined up with the ostro-Goths(?) or Vandals(??) in eastern Europe and then migrated slowly west, to finally settle in Spain. I am not getting enough time because I also do some reading on India, pre-Islamic Persia, and browsing the GEC forums.a jack of all trades. Geve
W_Sheppard_Baird (Tourist) 04/19/08 08:24 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Hi geveN, I just returned from a long overdue vacation to find your post. The movement of peoples from the Neolithic through prehistory is a topic of great interest to me. I have tried a variety of approaches to find the most credible information possible from what is available. I have come to the point where I believe the only truly accurate method of filling in the timeline you desire is through the systematic DNA analysis of the human remains recovered from the tombs and graves of prehistory. No DNA study based on the genetic sampling of modern populations will EVER be considered defintive when applied to the actual populations of prehistory. The true story awaits the genetic analysis of the bones stored in the museums and universities around the world. This work is only just beginning and will take many years to complete. One word of hope is that the problem with the contamination of ancient bones by modern DNA has apparently been overcome. Please refer to the following: Abigail S. Bouwman, Elizabeth R. Chilvers, Keri A. Brown, and Terence A. Brown, "Identification of the Authentic Ancient DNA Sequence in a Human Bone Contaminated with Modern DNA", American Journal of Physical Anthropology 131 (2006) 428-431. Also, I will be releasing the latest version of the "Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans in the next week or two. Google Earth has significantly increased its high resolution coverage of Crete and the Aegean and many additional sites have been pinpointed with great accuracy. Very Best Regards, W. Sheppard Baird
geveN (Cartographer) 04/19/08 04:02 PM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	hi Sheppard, hope you thoroughly enjoyed your vacation!! from what you say in your above reply, the National Geographic Genographic project would not give the right clues because they are compiling and analysing DNA of moderns. How would you rate those DNA profile chaps who for US $ 150 send you a kit where one has to "collect" and return DNA samples from the mouth and they send back a profile of your ancestry ? Best Wishes, Geve
W_Sheppard_Baird (Tourist) 04/20/08 10:24 AM	Re: The Archaeological Sites of the Aegean Minoans
	Dear Geve, Yes, that's how see it. The National Geographic Genographic project is a wonderful way for people to determine their genetic ancestry in a general, low-resolution way ONLY. Though I haven't done it myself, I would like very much to see the results the project would produce for me just as many people would. The problem with filling in the true timeline of the actual movements of people, especially in prehistory, is that it is simply not able to accurately place people in precise locations with the required detail. The best and highest resolution method of doing this is to analyze the genetics of the human bones buried or entombed throughout prehistory from identifiable geographical sites. Even the scientists conducting the DNA studies based on the sampling of modern populations would agree with this as the best course to take. I've yet to hear one say otherwise. Thank you very much for your insightful and extremely pertinent questions on these topics. Very Best Regards, W. Sheppard Baird

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