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The excavation site of Anemospilia is located ca. 3 km northwest of Archarnes on the northern slopes of Mount Jouchtas with a wonderful panorama view of the surrounding vineyards and to Heraklion and the sea.
After small finds had been made, the archaeologists Sakellarakis began a routine search in 1979 and then made a sensational discovery.
They uncovered the only known Minoan temple, where cult rites, such as human sacrifices, were carried out. The heavy earthquake of 1700 BC., which also destroyed the old palaces, interrupted the sacrificial ceremony and conserved it in the archaeological sense. In the westerly room of the three rooms standing next to each other, the skeleton of a young man, who had been tied up, was found on an altar. Next to it two more skeletons were discovered; a priestess and a priest with a bronze sword. In the entrance hall stood a sacrificial servant with a bowl filled with the blood of the victim. At this point in time they were all obviously struck down by falling rubble.
Was the human sacrifice meant to appease the gods and to stop the approaching natural disaster?