Last week I visited the Minoan palace of Knossos on Crete, a terrific site that gives a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the elite class of that ancient society 3500 years ago. It was even more informative to see the Minoan artifacts in Heraklion’s fantastic archaeological museum. This picture shows part of one of the famous finds, a small vase from a Minoan villa in the south of Crete at Hagia Triada (‘Holy Trinity’). The vase shows a procession around its body, a group of harvesters singing and carrying winnowing sticks over their shoulders, for beating the newly gathered grains and separating the wheat from the chaff. It’s thought that the vase might have been used in a fertility ritual, perhaps pouring votive wine or oil. The decoration fits with the idea of the fertility of the land and the culture’s celebration of a successful and plentiful harvest.