04. The Long Twilight

Shortly after 1200 BC, Mycenaean power declined rapidly. The abrupt end of the Bronze Age in Greece has been a vexed issue in Greek archaeology for more than a century. In this lecture, we review the major explanations that have been put forward. The most dramatic explanation is natural disaster. Did a cataclysm, such as a volcanic eruption or tidal wave, cause the collapse of Bronze-Age civilization? Or did invasions and military conquests bring an end to the cultures of Crete and Mycenae? A third possibility is that internal revolts toppled societies that were too fragile to resist. Finally, we should ask whether we can find an explanation by looking beyond Greece and Crete to the other cultures of the Bronze- Age Mediterranean.