Post-Palatial Twilight: The Aegean in the Twelfth Century B.C.

houses at Mycenae rebuilt both on their old foundations and on new ones
LH IIIC rebuilding of stuff that had been flooded in LH IIIB
magnificent fresco at Mycenae

1150/1125 Mycenae suffers another destruction by fire in the citadel
large megaron outside Tiryns destroyed around the same time
transformation of the walled citadels into burial grounds (cists) indicates lack of occupation
destruction of shrines at Phylakopi and temple at Ayia Irini maybe by earthquake
destruction of Koukounaries on Paros by fire, human agency

refugee settlements on peaks on Crete
influxes of Mainland migrants

cremation & individual burial in cist graves make their appearance
cremation from the east (possibly Anatolia; cf Troy VI)
individual burial in cist graves a revival of Middle Helladic practices (low overhead, not going to invest in massive graves if not staying in one place very long)
chamber tombs disappear before end of LH IIIC

Disappeared immediately:
writing
palaces & their economies
massive architectural programs

Persisted 50-75 years
architecture on an impressive scale
figurine manufacture
sophisticated ceramic industry

Already in decline
seal carving
possibly ivory carving
b/c of lack of raw materials

Persisted briefly
wall-painting

pottery painting now about hunts, warriors on the march, not stately chariot parades or bulls/deer/fowl/fish
pictorialism peaks 1160/40-1120/00, about halfway through LH IIIC
painter of the Warrior Vase also appears to have painted a fresco using the same techniques, where he presumably learned them

no more monarchy: monarch symbols mocked
griffins no longer guard occupants of thrones, but feed their babies in nests
lions play with ball of string
fake Linear B

first ship depictions on the mainland ever (but Wiener says Jack Davis says ships at Pylos LH IIIB, Aegaeum 28)
warships and on-board combat
no more body shields and boar-tusk helmets

The Collapse of Mycenaean Palatial Civilization and the Coming of the Dorians

houses outside the walls destroyed by fire
necks smashed off stirrup jars filled with oil, Wace took to mean the fire was started deliberately after the places were doused with oil
"Potter's Shop" at Zygouries
palace/citadel of Gla
part, if not all, of palace of Thebes destroyed, not by fire

fortifications at Mycenae strengthened, underground water system
lots of fortification strengthening at Tiryns
Cyclopean walls around Acropolis, subterranean water system at Athens
Corinth wall

evidence for earthquake at Tiryns

walled city of Midea destroyed by fire
small settlement at Iria southeast of Nauplion destroyed by fire
Menelaion destroyed by fire
palace at Pylos burnt
massive depopulation more striking in Messenia than elsewhere in Greece
influx into Achaea, more tombs
influx into Ionian islands

evidence for violent destruction of Acropolis, but agent(s) cannot be identified

LH IIIC at least two major incursions of Mycenaean refugees to Cyprus

Andronikos
neo-Marxist explanation fails to explain widespread depopulation of large & fertile areas such as Messenia and Laconia

Vermeule
Sea Peoples disrupted commerce

Desborough
invaders from the north, but no good evidence
foreign objects occur even in good Mycenaean contexts as imports, could have been imitated later

Mylonas
different failures for different reasons, but why should this result in a complete collapse with no rebuilding?

Carpenter
drought
droughts can occur, but no definite evidence either way for this period
would have been Mycenaeans sacking the palace trying to get to supplies, not outsiders

Iakovides
Sea Peoples disrupted commerce but not active near Greece, only indirect impact
Pylos shows scarcity of raw materials

Rutter and lots of people
Coarse Ware evidence of invaders from the Danube, not in large numbers
not enough pottery to show this

Winter
barbarian invaders don't leave a bunch of archaeological evidence behind, adopt the culture of the conquered

Betancourt
Mycenaean economy too specialized

Drews
changes in the nature of warfare
too simplistic