ocr: palaces reflects a vitality and humanism that distinguish Crete from contemporaneous societies such as Egypt and Assyria. The origin of the European tradition of human- ism and individualism is generally attributed to the Greeks, but there is a sense in which Minoan culture can be considered the first example ofa distinctively European tradition. In the absence of written docu- ments some questions will always remain, but a study of the palaces can contribute greatly to understanding the successes of Minoan society. The sites of all four known palaces share as significant common feature: they ...