Its kind of a wordy questions but what i'm getting at is the fact that we really do not know anything about the Minoans. We can not read Linear-A and all we have are a bunch of murals and statues. We're not even sure what most of their architecture would have looked like.
Yet it is common to hear people talk about how it was a matriarchal society that worshiped a goddess (don't think i have ever heard which one).
So my question is "Excavations of Minoan ruins really took off during the 60'-70's which was also a time of great civil rights and feminist rights movements in America. So could it be that some of the archaeologist/historians projected their own beliefs onto their findings and that is why we have the idea of the Minoans being some kind of ancient matriarchal egalitarian society?"
Because as far as i know the only things we can really tell is that they liked boats, liked dolphins, were semi-warlike, and had a game that involved jumping over bulls.
My source, 'Minoan Crete' by Antonis Vasilakis, doesn't mention it's a matriarchal society though. In the chapter on historical development is says (translated):
"At an early stage archaeological development found out that around 2000 / 1900 BCE an important change took place in the cultural development of Crete. The most important part of this change was the founding of the first palace complexes. Their foundation means that power was now concentrated in specific centers. This was due to external factors, but also to internal economic and social development...
"In Crete the concentration of power and wealth (especially agricultural surpluses) led to a cultural development previously unknown in the Aegean area. The palaces are for a period of 600 - 700 years the focal point. Our knowledge of the first 2 - 3 centuries of this period has gaps in it. Nevertheless, it is certain that on all fronts (economical, social, political and religious) a radical change took place. The rulers of the new centers of power came from a local ruling class, which had developed in previous periods...
"The palaces were complex buildings with several floors, indicating a central political power and religious hierarchy of which the king was the head. The palaces and palace complexes mainly exercised economical control, which required a bureaucracy, palace sanctities, storage and workshops."
So, although it acknowledges gaps in our knowledge, according to my source, the era of palaces - which I assume is the period you are talking about - was controlled by a bureaucratic and religious system, with a king at the head. No mention of a matriarchal society.