2024, A. KARNAVA, «Creta in epoca micenea», A. CRISPINO, R. JUNG (EDS.), Il regno di Aḫḫijawa. I Micenei e la Sicilia, Rome-Bristol (CT), 3-9. (original) (raw)

This chapter examines the archaeological evidence from the island of Crete for the period known as ‘Mycenaean’, which lasted some 350 years. The phase starts in c. 1450 BC with the collapse of the so-called Minoan world, for which the nascent Mycenaean world is nowadays viewed as largely responsible. Palaces and palatial sites are destroyed and abandoned, only the Knossos palace persists through c. 1375 BC, and a palace that must have existed in Kydonia (Chania) seems to function until c. 1250 BC. After that, evidence for the existence of any central authority, at least on the local, Cretan level, is lacking. No major destructions are observed in Crete in c. 1200 BC, at the time when multiple sites in the mainland are largely abandoned. Still, the 12th century BC is considered a time of turbulence in Crete, since the few sites that were inhabited during the 13th century are abandoned, and Crete’s Mycenaean ‘interlude’ comes to a close in c. 1100 BC.