Mainland Greece was living in small settlements of mud-brick houses, while Crete housed a sophisticated civilization we call the Minoans. They had skilled artisans and craftsmen who traded widely in the Aegean, Mediterranean, and sometimes beyond. They built palaces ruled by kings. They wrote in what we today call Linear A. Greece itself was a backwater, the recipient of traded goods but not their creator. Then around 1,600 BCE, the mainlanders suddenly began creating almost unimaginable treasures in their newly-lavish tombs. A light had turned on.
Mainlanders’ population swelled; settlements grew in size, number, and apparent wealth. During this time, elites began creating the first inklings of something beyond minor regional chiefdoms. The mainland of Greece was at the start of what would become a palatial civilization in about 100 years. One way we know this is what they left behind: ruling elites became more cosmopolitan with more diverse and lavish goods in their tombs. Their grave goods showed their increased reach and power. These were who we would come to call the Myceneans of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário