Greek Dark Age

Q: When was the Greek Dark Age?

The Greek Dark Age was roughly c. 1200 to c. 800 BCE.

Q: Why is it called the Greek Dark Age?

It is called the Greek Dark Age because the Linear B writing system of the Mycenean Civilization was lost and there are no written records of the time. Based on archaeological evidence and the writings of later ages, Greek civilization declined during this period between c. 1200 and c. 800 BCE.

Q: What were the characteristics of the Greek Dark Age?

The characteristics of the Greek Dark Age were: political fragmentation, collapse of trade networks, economic decline, loss of material culture, population decline, decline in art, cultural pursuits, wealth, and writing.

Q: What caused the Greek Dark Age to end?

The rediscovery of writing and reemergence of long-distance trade brought Greece out of the Dark Age and into the Archaic Age, even though the so-called "Greek Dark Age" was never as "dark" as people have thought.

Joshua J. Mark

Greek Dark Age

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Definition

The Greek Dark Age (c. 1200 to c. 800 BCE, overlapping with the Iron Age, c. 1200-550 BCE) is the modern-day term for the period in Greek history following the Bronze Age Collapse when the Mycenaean Civilization fell and the Linear B writing system was lost, giving the era the designation "dark" because no contemporary written accounts of it exist.

More about: Greek Dark Age

Timeline

c. 1200 BCE
Second palace destroyed at Mycenae, city begins to decline.
1200 BCE - 800 BCE
Greek Dark Age.

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