The Mycenaean Collapse And The Bigger Picture

The Sea Peoples cannot be fully understood without addressing what happened in the Aegean itself during the period of the collapse, because this is where many of the Sea Peoples groups apparently originated.

The Mycenaean civilization of the Greek mainland was one of the most sophisticated of the Late Bronze Age.

The palace centers at Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Thebes, and other sites were complex bureaucratic operations with elaborate Linear B writing systems for administration, extensive agricultural and craft production systems, and significant military establishments.

The collapse of the Mycenaean palace system around 1200-1150 BCE was sudden and apparently traumatic.