From Prehistory to the Present Day

CHANIA 2007


According to the views of paleontologists, it is accepted that during the Neolithic period, elephants, hippopotamuses, megaceroses (giant deer), and regular deer lived in Crete, along with small rodents, bats, turtles, and other species. The disappearance of large mammals from Crete coincides roughly with the arrival of humans on the island, although it has not been determined whether this was a coincidence or a consequence. With the first human settlement in Crete, people brought along the animals they had already domesticated and which were absolutely essential to them. Among the first animals believed to have arrived on the island were cattle, sheep, goats, and dogs. The donkey is estimated to have come to Crete during the Early Minoan period, while the horse arrived later, as it did on the Greek mainland, with the Dorian invasion.