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History of GreeceThe Mycenaean civilization flourished between 1600 BC and the collapse of their Bronze-Age civilization around 1100 BC. The collapse is commonly attributed to the Dorian invasion, although several other theories have been advanced as well (natural disasters, climate change). The major Mycenaean city-sites were Mycenae and Tiryns in Argolis, Pylos in Messenia, Athens in Attica, Thebes and Orchomenus in Boeotia, and Iolkos in Thessaly. In Crete, Mycenaeans occupied the ruins of Knossos. In addition there were some sites of importance for cults, such as Lerna, typically in the form of house sanctuaries. Mycenaean settlement sites also appeared in Epirus,[1][2] Macedonia,[3] on islands in the Aegean, on the coast of Asia Minor, and then in Cyprus. Mycenaean artifacts with Linear B inscriptions have been also found as far away as Germany[4] and Mycenaean swords as far away as Georgia.[5]
Mycenaean civilization was dominated by a warrior aristocracy. Around 1400 BC, the Mycenaeans extended their control to Crete, center of the Minoan civilization, and adopted a form of the Minoan script called Linear A to write their early form of Greek.
Not only did the Mycenaeans defeat the Minoans, but according to legend they twice defeated Troy, a powerful city-state that rivaled Mycenae in power. Because the only evidence for them is the Iliad of Homer and other texts riddled with mythology, the existence of Troy and the Trojan War is uncertain. In 1876, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann uncovered ruins in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) that he claimed were those of Troy. Some sources claim these ruins do not match well with Homer's account of Troy[6] but others disagree.[7]
