The Late Bronze Age lasted in Greece and the Aegean lasted approximately 600 years and saw the rise of Mycenaean culture as a power on the Greek mainland, the islands of the Aegean and beyond. The period’s end was punctuated by the rise of the mysterious Dorians who swept away the cultures that had gone before them, heralding the dark ages that preceded Archaic Greece.
Chronology of the Late Mediterranean Bronze Age
The chronology of the Late Bronze Age cannot be measured precisely and is subject to review. However, based on archaeological dating evidence from pottery, the period ran approximately between 1600-1015BC and was dominated by two cultures: the Mycenaeans and the Dorians.
Mycenaean Culture
Dating to between 1600-1100BC, Mycenaean culture originated in mainland Greece. It was typified by fortified sites such as Tiryns and Mycenae — one of its earliest towns that gave the culture its name. These towns formed the centres of a powerful empire, which spread into the Aegean, taking over the trade colonies of the Minoan and Cycladic civilisations. The Mycenaeans then established their own trade outposts at Rhodes and Cyprus, and by 1250BC, their influence had reached as far as the Levant.
The Mycenaeans were the first to speak a form of ancient Greek. They had their own form of writing in Linear B, and the Iliad and Odyssey immortalised their culture of kings and heroes.
Mycenaean culture began to decline in the 13th Century BC when the Dorian invasions forced many people to flee to the Ionian Islands, Cyprus and Euboea. However, sites such as Mycenae managed to survive in a diminished form before disappearing from history until Henrich Schliemann rediscovered them.
The Dorian Invasions
The final cultural phase of the Bronze Age came with the Dorian invasions. The Dorian period lasted from 1200BC until 800BC, straddling the late Bronze Age and Greek Dark Ages.
The origin of the Dorians is still subject to debate. They are believed to have come from northern Greece, around Macedonia or from the southern Balkans. Some believe that they may have originated in Doris before the Mycenaean’s drove them north.
The Dorian’s began their takeover of Greece in Boeotia, finally settling in the Peloponnese. In their wake, they left a trail of destruction, destroying the cities they overran and enslaving the inhabitants. Their invasion caused mass migrations from the mainland to the Greek islands of the Aegean.
The Dorians were also the first iron users in Greece. They also brought about changes in religious worship, emphasising male gods while goddesses occupied mainly fertility roles. They also changed the social structure of Greece. Instead of being ruled by kings, the idea of rule by aristocracy developed. This was to form the basis of democracy in later ages.
The Prelude to Classical Greece
The Late Bronze Age began with the Mycenaeans building a power base built upon trade. It ended by conquest by force of arms. While the Dorians swept away much of the culture that had gone before them, they also built upon its foundations, establishing the roots of democracy and sowing the seeds for the later, golden age of classical Greece.
Resources
Illustrated Dictionary of Archaeology (1977) Book Club Associates: London.
Warren, P and Hankeys, V (1989) Aegean Bronze Age Chronology. Bristol Classical Press: Bristol.
