Mycenaean Greece

Mycenaean Greecerefers to the last phase of the Bronze Age in Ancient Greece (ca. 1600–1100 BC). It takes its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in Argolis,Peloponnese, southernGreece. Other major sites included Tiryns in Argolis,Pylos in Messenia, Athensin Attica, Thebes andOrchomenus in Boeotia, and Iolkos in Thessaly, while Crete and the site ofKnossos also became a part of the Mycenaean world. Mycenaean influenced settlement sites also appeared inEpirus,[1][2]Macedonia,[3][4] on islands in the Aegean Sea, on the coast of Asia Minor, the Levant,[5] Cyprus,[6] and Italy.[7]

Mycenaean civilization perished with the collapse of Bronze-Age civilization in the eastern Mediterranean, which is commonly attributed to the Dorian invasion, although alternative theories propose also natural disasters and climatic changes. This period of Greek history is the historical setting of much ancient Greek literature and myth, including the epics of Homer.[8]