Mycenaean

The Mycenaean civilization refers to the late Bronze Age culture of the Greek mainland and Crete, roughly from 1600 to 1100 BCE. It centers on palatial centers such as Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Thebes, and Knossos, where rulers organized administration, labor, and storage. The term derives from Mycenae, one of its most powerful kingdoms, but it covers a wider regional network.

Language and writing: The Mycenaeans spoke an early form of Greek and used Linear B, a syllabic script adapted for administrative records. Tablets found at palatial sites record inventories, labor pledges, and ritual offerings. Linear B was deciphered in 1952 by Michael Ventris, revealing linguistic continuity with later Greek.

Economy and society: Mycenaean society was organized around palace economies headed by kings or wanax, with distribution of goods via bureaucratic granaries. The material culture includes monumental architecture, such as the citadel palaces, and elite tombs, including shaft graves and tholos tombs. They produced pottery, metalwork, and traded across the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.

Archaeology and legacy: Early excavations by Heinrich Schliemann at Mycenae popularized the term and revealed monumental architecture and tombs. Later work at Tiryns, Pylos, and Knossos refined understanding of Mycenaean administration and art. The civilization declines around 1100 BCE in the Bronze Age collapse, but its mythic and cultural legacy influenced later Greek culture.