sourced story
c. 1600–1100 BCEReputable sourceWell documented

The Mycenaean Civilization

On the timeline · around c. 1600–1100 BCE · The Mycenaean Civilization1,700 BCE1,650 BCE1,600 BCE1,550 BCE1,500 BCE

What happened

The Mycenaeans, named after their fortress-city of Mycenae, dominated Late Bronze Age mainland Greece and the Aegean. They built massive citadels, traded across the Mediterranean, and kept records in Linear B — the earliest written form of the Greek language.

Why it matters

The Mycenaeans were the Greeks of legend — Agamemnon, Achilles, and Odysseus belong to their world — and their memory shaped the epics and self-image of later Greece.

Sources