Palace of Knossos

The Palace of Knossos is located in North Central Crete just south of the outskirts of Heraklion on the Kephala hill. The site was first occupied some time around 7000 BCE in what is called the Aceramic Neolithic period (aceramic because no pottery was produced). The Bronze Age was not to begin for a further four thousand years. It is thought that Knossos was the first and oldest Neolithic site in Crete and the first indication of human activity on the island is located in the exact area where the Palace and its Central Court were to be located. So humans had been continually active on the site for five thousand years before the First Palace was constructed.