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One of the most frequent comments I hear about Minoan ceramics is how modern they look, how much they would be at home in any of our kitchens or dining rooms.

Most of us have an idea in our heads about what ancient pottery looks like. We've seen enough pictures of Greek and Roman cups, jars, and pots to know the vibe they have.

This is the first in a four-part series about 3D elements in Minoan art. Find the other entries in the series here: Part Two, Part Three, Part Four.

You may have noticed that the Minoans had something of a breast obsession in their art. This is apparent not just in the many images of topless women, but also in the artwork showing animals suckling their young and in the many teat-shaped conical rhytons (ritual libation pitchers).

What you may not have noticed is that the Minoans put nipples on a lot of their pitchers and jugs, like the one at the top of this post, from Akrotiri. Why the heck would they do that?

When two societies engage in extensive cultural exchange, there's usually still a distinction between the two.

The whole eastern Mediterranean was a single giant cultural exchange milieu during the Bronze Age. The Minoans borrowed from the Levant, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. The Egyptians borrowed from the Minoans, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Mesopotamians... You get the idea.

The Etruscans are every bit as enigmatic a civilization as the Minoans. People like to speculate about the Etruscans and wonder who they really were and where they originally came from. Part of this process often includes the possibility that there's a connection between them and the Minoans. But is that really the case? Or can we even tell?

First, let me be clear that the two cultures don't overlap in time or space. The last major Minoan city, Knossos, was destroyed around 1350 BCE. Anything resembling Minoan culture on Crete that may have remained after the cities fell then disappeared altogether during the LBA collapse, around 1100 BCE.

The Minoans are a constant source of fascination to modern people. That means that Minoan artifacts are also fascinating, and images of them circulate online every bit as fast as the latest meme.

Unfortunately, a lot of the photos that regularly make the rounds online labeled as Minoan artifacts aren't Minoan at all.

One aspect of ancient Egyptian archaeology that I've always enjoyed is that the dry climate of the Nile valley and the surrounding desert preserved biodegradable items like clothing and baskets (and mummies!). Unfortunately, the Aegean isn't dry - it's a portion of the Mediterranean Sea dotted with islands. So sadly, on Crete and Thera (modern Santorini) most of the biodegradable artifacts have long since rotted away.

But that doesn't mean the situation is hopeless. There are other ways to discover what kinds of biodegradable objects the Minoans had.