When the Mycenaean palaces collapsed around 1200 BC, Greece entered a "Dark Age" lasting until roughly 800 BC. Linear B writing vanished, trade shrank, populations declined. Then around 800 BC, Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet - and that's when Homer's oral epics were finally written down. A remarkable cultural recovery from collapse.
Greek Dark Age 1200-800 BC saw loss of Linear B after Bronze Age collapse
Key facts
- Greek Dark Age broadly defined from 1200 to 800 BC
- Followed the collapse of the Mycenaean palace world around 1200 BC
- Linear B writing system was lost as palace bureaucracies fell apart
- Populations declined and long-distance trade shrank during this period
- Around 800 BC, Greeks began adopting the Phoenician alphabet, adapting it to their own language
- This transition marked the end of the Greek Dark Age and beginning of the Archaic period
- Epic traditions from the oral Dark Age were finally written down during the Archaic period
Sources
Greek Dark Age - World History Encyclopediaworldhistory.org
Based on archaeological evidence and the writings of later ages, Greek civilization declined during this period between c. 1200 and c. 800 BCE.
The Greek Dark Age (c.1150 - 800 BC) - Steemitsteemit.com
For about 50 years, in around 1,200 BC, the major palace centres of Mycenaean culture were burnt to the ground, with the major remnants of the ...
The Greek Dark Age and a New Dawn - The Human Journeyhumanjourney.us
Greek Dark Age: Circa 1200–Circa 800 BCE. The political and military collapse in Mycenaean Greece around 1200 BCE was devastating. It is likely that a ...
Dark & Iron Ages in Greece | Timeline & Events - Study.comstudy.com
The Dark Age started with the fall of the Mycenaean civilization and the destruction of its major cities in 1200 BCE. It ended around 800 BCE. The Iron Age in ...
The Dark Ages in Greece 1150 – 800 BC - subratachaksubratachak.wordpress.com
The Dark Ages (ca. 1150-800 BCE) Mycenaean civilization collapsed rapidly and systemically. One site after another on the mainland show signs of pillaging and ...
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