The Late Bronze Age collapse (c. 1200–1150 BCE) was followed by a gradual shift in Greek burial practice. Mycenaean elites generally used inhumation in shaft graves and chamber tombs; cremation became more common as palatial centers were abandoned and spread widely in the Early Iron Age. The video argues that northern European “cremating peoples” replaced the builders of Cyclopean walls and invokes a Dorian invasion, but archaeology does not establish a “dragon culture,” a mass migration from Germany or northern France, or wholesale violent replacement. The traditional Dorian model remains contested, with substantial evidence for cultural continuity. Greek Dark Ages are commonly dated c. 1100/1050–800/750 BCE. The collapse had no single accepted cause: drought, conflict, migration, possible Sea Peoples activity and internal stress remain debated. Santorini’s eruption around 1600 BCE is one proposed contributor; the video’s Icelandic-volcano explanation is not the accepted main account.
Bronze Age collapse: cremation rose as Mycenaean citadels faded
Key facts
- Mycenaean burials were predominantly inhumations in shaft graves and chamber tombs.
- Cremation increased during and after the Late Bronze Age collapse and became widespread in Early Iron Age Greece; the transition was gradual.
- The collapse occurred in the late 13th or early 12th century BCE; c. 1200–1150 BCE is common shorthand, while some chronologies begin around 1250 BCE.
- No accepted main theory attributes the collapse to an Icelandic eruption in 1157 BCE; causes remain debated, and Santorini's eruption around 1600 BCE is only one proposed contributor.
- The video argues that northern European 'cremating peoples' migrated south; archaeology does not establish a 'dragon culture' or a mass migration from Germany or northern France as the cause of the burial shift.
- The traditional Dorian-invasion model is contested; c. 1000 BCE is not a consensus arrival date, and evidence shows substantial cultural continuity rather than wholesale violent replacement.
- Greek Dark Ages are commonly dated c. 1100/1050–800/750 BCE, although narrower definitions use c. 1100–900 BCE.
Sources
Late Bronze Age collapseen.wikipedia.org
Invasions, destruction and population movements during the Late Bronze Age collapse ... 1237–1209 BC), the island was briefly invaded by the Hittites, either to ...
Expedition Magazine | Found: The Dorianspenn.museum
It may be that the Dorian Invasion was simply dated too early and it has been argued recently that Dorians arrived only in ca 1000 B.C. Yet a movement at this ...
The Collapse of Mycenaean Civilization and Its Causesstudocu.com
oWhy do archaeologist reject a 'Dorian invasion'? The material culture of 1100-900 shows cultural continuity, and no proof. of invasion ( ...
What Caused the Collapse of the Legendary Bronze Age?retrospectjournal.com
Invasions supposedly took place by the 'sea people': nomadic tribes who would have come to invade the cities which were mostly situated by the ...
Bronze Age Civilization Collapse - 1200 BC - Classic Historyclassichistory.net
There is no one thing that the collapse of Bronze Age civilization can be blamed on. Drought, foreign invasions, and even earthquakes all seem ...
The Late Bronze Age Collapseunseenhistories.com
The world as it once was came to an end, and only ash and desolation were left behind. This was one of the worst disasters of ancient history, ...
Bronze Age Collapse: The Decline and Fall ...worldhistory.org
What is clearly known is that between circa 1250 and circa 1150 BCE major cities were destroyed, whole civilizations fell, diplomatic and trade ...
From the Ashes of the Bronze Agejournal.equinoxpub.com
1997 Bronze Age 'barrows' and funerary rites and rituals of cremation. 2013 Cremation burials in Greece from the Late Bronze Age to the early ...
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