Ironmaking is the most outstanding technological innovation in this period, so the dark age of Greece is also called the early iron age. Ironmaking is an innovation. It seems that it was introduced into Greece, but it didn't develop there. It may reach Greece through Cyprus and the Near East. Compared with the practices in the early Bronze Age, the metalworking methods in the Dark Age showed signs of technical defects in war articles in several places.
More than a century before Mycenae collapsed, we found evidence of conflict and instability in the Aegean Sea. During the period of LH IIIA-B (see table 1), fortifications were built in Mycenae to protect the palace and some living spaces; During the period of LH IIIB (not excluding accidental damage), some houses outside the city were damaged, and then fortifications were expanded to ensure water supply. Around this time, similar measures were taken in Athens, Sellins and Guerra (Viotia). Perhaps a wall closed the construction of the Corinthian isthmus, probably to control the only land passage in the Peloponnesus. At least some of these incidents may be related to Egyptian and Hittite documents, which recorded land and sea attacks at about the same time.
Chronology of the dark ages in Greece
Although BC 1200 is recognized as the date when several major Mycenae centers were destroyed and abandoned, archaeological records will not show significant changes until at least a century later; In other words, Mycenae culture lasted for about a century after it was destroyed in the center of the palace, and its cultural characteristics can still be recognized. There is no single "fixed point" in the chronology of the dark ages in Greece, which means that due to the loss of literacy, we have no historical events that can be related to the world chronology. Some scholars suggest that the date between 65438 BC+0200 BC and 800 BC is the dark age of Greece. Others believe that it started in 1 100 BC and ended in 776 BC, the date of the first Olympic Games (according to Pias in Elis). Dates between BC 1000 and 750 are also favored. Most scholars today can accept all these estimates. Table 1 provides a simplified chronology of the dark ages in Greece.
Collapse consequence
Settlements in the dark ages are usually small and scattered everywhere.
After the destruction of Mycenae Palace, there is no evidence that these buildings were rebuilt; However, it is obvious that some of these sites have been reoccupied, and in some cases, some people have tried to build new buildings, although the real attempt to rebuild the old palace is uncertain. In Mycenae, the top terrace was abandoned, but part of the castle was reoccupied; In Du Menear, the activities of the destroyed large palace complex were partially resumed, but they were soon abandoned. Some aspects of Mycenae culture continued to exist in the century after AD. 65438 BC+0200 BC. Mycenaean pottery and Mycenaean tombs still exist in the Greek mainland and some cyclades.
In Crete, although urban life in some coastal towns (such as Palecastro) continues, many major bronze age settlements have been abandoned, and a new model has emerged: building new sites in remote and easily defended areas. Some of these areas were not occupied before 1200 BC. The site of Calfee is a good example: most of it is located at an altitude of 1 000 meters. It seems unlikely that Kaifei people can freely choose to settle in such an inaccessible place, so it can be safely assumed that this choice is determined by a series of circumstances, which may be related to defense and other strategic reasons. More than 100 such sites have been recorded in Crete alone.
Funerals in the dark ages
By about 1 100 BC, many changes affecting the burial customs, settlements and pottery styles can be found in archaeological records. In many areas, the custom of Mycenae family cemetery was suddenly replaced by a new single funeral, while in some areas cremation was adopted. The regional differences of burial customs have been determined, and different customs exist in the same community.
Attica. In Athens before 1050 BC, burial in pits and cist graves recorded in Kerameikos cemetery was a major funeral custom. 1 1: 00 to BC 1050, the similar funeral customs in Athens and the use of Salamis show the evidence of the wealth difference of small graves in the two places. In the primitive geometric period, cremation became the main burial method. The burned remains were put in the inner ear jar, and then put into a pit with funerary objects, filled with soil and covered with slate. Athens emphasizes gender distinction: weapons and sundries are related to men, while jewelry and ear bottles are related to women. By the late 8th century BC, burial again became the main way of funeral.
In Lofkandi, cremation and burial are both practiced. There are different changes between the two: the cremated remains can be placed in cist or left on the fire, while the burial can be in cist or shaft grave. In some towns, pits under the floors of houses were recorded. In Eretria, a mixture of cremation and burial was found in the same cemetery.
Thessaly. Here, some aspects of Mycenae's burial custom still exist, such as the small tholos tomb (widespread in Mycenae's time), which continued to be built throughout the dark ages. Several cist cemeteries (originally used mainly for children) were recorded, including several tombs in the Rock Cutting Room. Other practices include digging holes in the floor of arched rooms (some of which contain cremated remains), covering them with slate, cremation in cellars, and cremation combined and covered by public graves.
Crete. In some areas where collective burial is normal (such as Knossos), indoor tombs are still in use, but many indoor tombs found here were abandoned less than two generations later. Knossos emphasized the difference between sex and age through cemetery objects, but this practice was abandoned in the 10 century BC.
Settlements in archaeological records
Research on settlements shows that in the dark ages, the population of Greece dropped sharply. This is reflected in the decrease in the number of Greek settlements that can be determined around BC 1 100: the number of Greek sites and cemeteries recorded during the Lhiiiib and Lhiiiic periods clearly shows this trend (see figure 1). This is consistent with the number of occupied Greek sites determined according to different pottery styles proposed by Anthony Snodgrass:
In some parts of Greece, such as Laconia and South Argo Park Jung Su, few archaeological discoveries are smaller than those in the period of about 1 100- 1000, and a few sites are smaller than those in the previous period. Vincent de Desborough estimated that the population would drop sharply. 1 100 "is about one-tenth of that of more than a century ago".
Settlements in the dark ages are usually small and scattered everywhere. Compared with Mycenae, the diversity of material culture shows signs of poverty. Around 1000 BC, the Lefkandi site (located in Euboea), which is considered to be the richest site in Greece, can see different pictures. Lofkandi provided evidence of contact with foreign countries (Cyprus and the Near East), and also showed buildings far higher than any other contemporary buildings in Greece. Although all this sounds exciting, Lefkandi also reflects the material decline of Greece: in terms of building standards, Lefkandi is far less complex than Mycenae's buildings. In the dark ages, Greece's material culture became poorer and lacked innovation as a whole. Places like Lefkandi were rare exceptions rather than rules.
Pottery in the dark ages
Like tombs, there are regional differences in pottery styles in different parts of Greece in the dark ages, which is different from Mycenae. During the period after the palace was destroyed, the pottery industry in the Lhiiiic period continued to develop, but the quality eventually declined, and then a new regional pottery style appeared. Table 2 summarizes the Greek pottery styles.
Abstract decoration dominated the pottery style in the dark ages. Figurative art basically did not exist in the dark ages of Greece, but it was quite common in the Mycenae era. It came back in the later period of geometric style, including battles, chariot parades and funeral scenes. Before the late geometric styles (such as the early prototype geometric styles of Lefkandi and Crete), only a few examples of pottery figurative art were recorded.
Around 1 125 BC, a local style called "Amisini" appeared in Attica. This style has also been recorded in other regions, but it has changed a lot; For example, in Lefkandi, compared with Attica, its quality is poor. In agoli, the quality varies from place to place. Generally speaking, Mycenae style is lower than the standard of Mycenae's late style in terms of materials and painting quality. The late Mycenae style and Amasenia style continued until BC 1050, and the prototype geometric style replaced these two styles, appearing in Algolid, Corinth, Thessaly, the south and central Kiklazes Islands and Little West Asia. During 950-900 BC, the prototype geometric style was the most popular style in Greece, but it was not found in some areas: Elis, Lacconia, Acadia, Samos &; Chios (no data available); Lesbos, Macedonia, Sicily and Italy (local goods have been recorded) and eastern Crete (where Sumino style is used).
From 900 BC, geometric styles gradually appeared until 750 BC, replacing all early styles except Macedonia. Around 725 BC, the pro-Corinthian style appeared in Corinth, and soon after, other completely figurative styles were discovered in Crete.
The regional difference of pottery can be explained by the decrease of contact between different groups: the decorative style is usually borrowed and exchanged in the interaction between groups. When trying to explain these regional differences, the lack of unified artistic tradition is related to the lack of leading political units in Greece, which may also be a factor to be considered. The influence of foreign pottery style is only recorded in rare cases (such as Lofkandi and Athens).
Past views on the dark ages of Greece
Decades ago, scholars' views on the dark ages in Greece were quite different from our current understanding. It is believed that Mycenae civilization declined after several waves of invasions by different groups, which brought violence and chaos to the sophisticated Mycenae people. The "dark age" is an appropriate analogy to this doomsday view, that is, a complex society was torn apart by nomadic people who entered Greece and "downgraded" it to a barbaric age. This photo is mainly supported by ancient records about Dorian invaders, a Greek tribe that migrated to Greece and was the main reason for the collapse of Mycenae. People think that Dorians
... is still in the stage of grazing and hunting; [...] Their main dependence is their livestock, because livestock need new pastures, so the tribe has been migrating. [...] Their swords and souls are hard metal, which gives them a ruthless and supreme advantage over achaean and Crete who still use bronze to kill people. [... [Dorians] put the ruling class under the sword and turned the remnants of Mycenae into slaves and serfs. [... the surviving Greeks escaped ...] Everyone felt insecure and armed: increasing violence destroyed agriculture and land trade as well as maritime commerce. The war is getting worse, and poverty is deepening and spreading. As families seek security and peace from one country to another, life becomes unstable.
Scholars in the past only looked at the ancient records of Dorians and other invading groups on the surface. They don't hold a critical view of these resources, but look for evidence to prove their effectiveness. Therefore, it has been suggested that some archaeological evidence discovered around 1200 BC is a reflection of these newcomers. Single burial and cremation are regarded as new elements of "invasion" in archaeological records, which are usually related to Dorians: these are understood as new funeral customs different from the Mycenae world and introduced by invading tribes. This is a "confirmation" of the records of ancient invading groups.
Since1960s, the archaeological work in the dark ages in Greece has increased significantly, and many old assumptions have been challenged. For example, a tomb from the whole Mycenae period was found in Argos. Cremation is another "invasion" element, which was also recorded in western Anatolia, Attica and even Italy in Mycenae's time. This means that we have reason to believe that the funeral terms that were interpreted as the "evidence" of the invasion group's entry into Greece may actually come from Mycenae indigenous people, or even from the surrounding world with close commercial ties with Mycenae, such as Italy. It may be that Dorian tribes migrated to Greece before and after the Mycenae collapse, or they played a role in the collapse itself, but the key point is that the evidence is far from conclusive and there is no solid archaeological foundation.
Criticism of the word "dark age"
Many scholars have raised concerns about the word "dark age". James whitley once said that the word "dark age" is a "very loaded word". Timothy Darvill thinks that the word "dark age" is "not helpful" because it means that although archaeology has improved our understanding of the Greek dark age, we know very little about it. Based on these and other observations, there are some alternative statements to refer to this period, such as "Early Iron Age" (based on the "Three Ages" system), which can be divided into "primitive geometry" (65438 BC+0050 BC to 900 BC) and "geometry" (900 BC to 700 BC) Greece.
Although a new objection is raised to the word "dark age", the overall picture displayed by archaeological data in this period conforms to the overall characteristics of system collapse, unrecognizable central management, population decline and material and cultural poverty. This is consistent with Anthony Snodgrass's point of view. In the dark ages of Greece, Mycenae culture was hardly preserved, while in the late 8th century BC, "it was hardly preserved until some elements were artificially resurrected".
Restoration and transition to ancient times
By 800 BC, the number of settlements began to increase. Generally speaking, the Aegean Islands in mainland Greece have seen this growth, which is also reflected in the increase in the number of Greek settlements outside Greece (Western Mediterranean and Black Sea). In the 8th century BC, the increase in the number of settlements coincided with the increase in the number of tombs in Athens, Attica and Argos. The same pattern is also recorded in Knossos and other cemeteries in Greece. Compared with previous centuries, the material culture of Greece in the 8th century BC was more diversified and innovative. Other changes recorded up to the end of the Dark Ages are: after abandoning Mycenae's linear B character, the recovery of literacy (Greek alphabet), the increase of contacts outside the Aegean Sea, and the emergence of new and successful political systems (early polar regions). These signs are consistent with a society experiencing population growth and higher complexity.
This recovery marks the end of the dark age in Greece and the transition to the ancient Greek period, and is regarded as a turning point or revival in Greek history.