Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Minoan civilization began around 3100 BC with Early Minoan I and ended in 1075 BC during Late Minoan IIIC. The period spans from the first painted ceramics to the abandonment of coastal settlements for defensible locations on higher ground.
Minoan palaces were built at Knossos, Phaistos, Zakros, and Malia. These sites served as administrative centers rather than royal residences and featured wings arranged around open rectangular courts.
The Minoans constructed extensive waterways including wells cisterns aqueducts and porous clay pipes to distribute water and relocate sewage. Flat roofs and courtyards collected rainwater which was stored in cisterns while drainage systems protected growing populations.
Genetic studies show that Minoans were closely similar to modern-day Cretans and Neolithic Europeans but distinct from Egyptian or Libyan populations. They shared ancestry with Anatolian Neolithic farmers and had some Yamnaya-related ancestry.
During the Palatial period the primary scripts were Linear A and Cretan hieroglyphs which remain undeciphered today. The Phaistos Disc features a pictorial script whose only close comparison is found on the Arkalochori Axe.