Thanks Ioannis for the links!

Admittedly I don't know a lot about this topic, and have enough knowledge to be dangerous. I am in the middle of some research on the art depicted in various Minoan artifacts. This research has some specific goals:

• to understand the nature of the artifacts as art and the cultures that produced them
• to understand where the artifacts were found and the time period to which the artifacts are attributed
• to understand which artifacts have been partially or completely reconstructed and passed off as 'actual'
• to understand how various paradigms have been applied to the interpretation of found artifacts and their cultures

So with this in mind, I looked at these urls and had questions. It seems to me that no one really knows for sure what the 'bull leaping' actions depicted in the various artifacts mean. And that is the point of this thread, to discuss the possiblities, specifically the religious possibilities?

It seems to me that the bulk of the debate is over:
• what the leaping means (equal camps of sport vs. religion)
• whether the leaping could feasibly occur
• who is depicted (gender, social status)
• what the symbolism of the different colors used to depict people means

1) http://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/olympics/prehistory/bull_leap.html
This site references a J.C. Younger, but I wonder if the author meant John G. Younger, listed below? This was interesting based on the classification into 3 techniques that appear in various artifcact depictions of the leapers. Note: I believe that this J.'G.' Younger is: "Professor of Classics and Humanities and Western Civilization and Curator, Department of Classics Slide Collection. PhD Cincinnati. Bronze Age Greek Archaeology. Greek Art. Ancient and Modern Gender and Sexuality. Bookreview Co-editor, American Journal of Archaeology at the University of Kansas Department of Classics":
http://www.ku.edu/~classics/faculty.html

And author of these articles used as sources in a couple of things I'm reading now:
"Bronze Age Representations of Aegean Bull-Games III" Aegeaum 12 (1995)
"The Stelai of Mycenae Grave Circles A and B" Aegeaum 16 (1997)

2) http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/ancientolympics2.html
I read uncited 'archaeological' evidence, mentioned in the page text. As someone new to this, how do I know what evidence the information is based upon? Do citations appear somewhere else at the site?

3) http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/ancientolympics2.html
"But the long-horned Cretan bull of ancient times may have been a more sluggish creature, bred perhaps for the usefulness of this trait in ritual. Or the bulls may have been drugged for the sport."

Note: The picture of the 'bull leaper' at the site is a rendered image from an interactive adventure computer game Wrath of the Gods, rather than an artifact.

These are interesting ideas. This corresponds to antonius' original thoughts that it is unlikely bulls could be leaped in this manner. If the bulls were different breeds than modern bulls used in bullfighting, would these acts be possible exactly as depicted? Do we know what the Cretan bulls were like, how similar/dissimilar they are to modern breeds?

If the bulls were drugged, what would substance have been used? And what would the purpose have been for the sport?

4) http://www2.norwich.edu/stuart/en201/index201.html

"This fresco from the Palace of Knossos, depicts the sport of Bull Jumping. Women as well as men performed this gymnastic feat, which seems to have had religious significance. Bull leaping competitions were held in connection with bull worship rituals. Some commentators say that's a lot of bull--that it is impossible to do what Minoan iconography depicts. But many statuettes and paintings very convincingly portray the tense muscle structures and the postures of the bull jumpers and convey the impression that the artists had observed carefully these details in real life. Leaping over the bull courts death, which can be an assertion of life and a prayer for the continuation of the potency and fertility represented by the bull. The Minoans sacrificed bulls, probably seeing in the bull's blood and death the seed of rebirth. Dueling with the bull is an ancient tradition in the Mediterranean basin and the Near East, and continues today with Spanish bullfights and the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona."

I believe the information at this site to be speculation, perhaps my ignorance is to blame here. It is quite interesting though. Can anyone confirm whether this is speculation? Are there sources that define what the religious rites were and define the 'Bull leaping competitions' mentioned?

I appreciate the chance to ask questions and discuss this. cheers, AX