Minoan civilization was one of the civilizations of the past and flour
ished in the island of Crete between the years 2600 B.C. and 1100 B.C.
Archaeological excavations brought to the light buildings and items,
showing that the Minoans had an extensive knowledge about hygiene and
health matters. Among the items were idols, depicting anatomical parts
of the human body and different pathological changes. These idols wer
e offered by suffering people to gods and goddesses in order to beg fo
r their help in curing them. In a study carried out on idols kept in t
he Heraklion Museum, a number of interesting anatomical details and pa
thological changes, concerning the head and neck area were recognized.