This paper looks at the Island of Mochlos, Crete, and the conditions surrounding the creation of a socially ranked society during the Early Minoan Period. I focus on the Early Minoan Tombs and the off-island raw materials and finished objects associated with them, in order to argue that the developing intra and inter-regional maritime trade networks influenced and facilitated the creation of a stratified society. By reviewing the tomb data I show how foreign objects and materials shaped the hierarchy of this kin based society.