Ritual performances in Minoan lustral basins. New observations on an old hypothesis

Dario Puglisi Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene e delle Missioni Italiane in Oriente XC, serie III, 12: 199-211

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Περίληψη (στα Αγγλικά)

In 1984, Ν. Marinatos proposed for the first time to recognize in the frescoes from the Xeste 3 lustral basin at Akrotiri the representation of a ceremony concerning a female rite of passage performed in the room. In the following years, this interpretation has been widely discussed but substantially accepted by many scholars. Until now, however, no one has systematically explored the possibility that this ritual could have taken place also in Cretan lustral basins. This is not the place for an exhaustive discussion of the question. I will limit myself to an emphasis on some similarities in the architectural morphology and plan arrangement of Theran and Cretan lustral basins, which in my view strongly suggest that all these devices were used for one and the same ceremony, concerning a female rite of passage.