ABSTRACT

The two major civilizations which arose in the Aegean Bronze Age are the ‘Minoan’in Crete and the ‘Mycenaean’ in mainland Greece. Both terms are modern; it is not known what name the two peoples gave themselves. A distinctive ‘Minoan’ civilization emerged c. 3000 BC. The ‘Mycenaean’ was of later growth, and came into existence c. 1600 BC by the amalgamation of native elements and others introduced from Minoan Crete. In the fourteenth century, the Mycenaeans supplanted the Minoans as the dominant people in the Aegean; but the Minoan civilization persisted within Crete, exerting a modest influence abroad, until the twelfth century.