Mycenaean Greece
Early Mycenaean period and Shaft Grave era (c. 1750–1400 BC)

Scholars have proposed different theories on the origins of the Mycenaeans. According to one theory, Mycenaean civilization reflected the exogenous imposition of archaic Indo-Europeans from the Eurasian steppe onto the pre-Mycenaean local population. An issue with this theory, however, is the very tenuous material and cultural relationship between Aegean and northern steppe populations during the Bronze Age. Another theory proposes that Mycenaean culture in Greece dates back to circa 3000 BC with Indo-European migrants entering a mainly-depopulated area; other hypotheses argue for a date as early as the seventh millennium BC (with the spread of agriculture) and as late as 1600 BC (with the spread of chariot technology). In a 2017 genetic study conducted by Lazaridis et al., "the Minoans and Mycenaeans were genetically similar, the Mycenaeans differed from Minoans in deriving additional ancestry from an ultimate source related to the hunter–gatherers of eastern Europe and Siberia, introduced via a proximal source related to the inhabitants of either the Eurasian steppe or Armenia." However, Lazaridis et al. admit that their research "does not settle th debate" on Mycenaean origins. Historian Bernard Sergent notes that archaeology alone is not able to solve the issue and that the majority of Hellenists believed Mycenaeans spoke a non-Indo-European Minoan language before Linear B was deciphered in 1952.

Notwithstanding the above academic disputes, the mainstream consensus among modern Mycenologists is that Mycenaean civilization began around 1750 BC, earlier than the Shaft Graves, originating and evolving from the local socio-cultural landscape of the Early and Middle Bronze Age in mainland Greece with influences from Minoan Crete. Towards the end of the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1700 /1675 BC), a significant increase in the population and the number of settlements occurred. A number of centers of power emerged in southern mainland Greece dominated by a warrior elite society; while the typical dwellings of that era were an early type of megaron buildings, some more complex structures are classified as forerunners of the later palaces. In a number of sites, defensive walls were also erected.

Meanwhile, new types of burials and more imposing ones have been unearthed, which display a great variety of luxurious objects. Among the various burial types, the shaft grave became the most common form of elite burial, a feature that gave the name to the early period of Mycenaean Greece. Among the Mycenaean elite, deceased men were usually laid to rest in gold masks and funerary armor, and women in gold crowns and clothes gleaming with gold ornaments. The royal shaft graves next to the acropolis of Mycenae, in particular the Grave Circles A and B, signified the elevation of a native Greek-speaking royal dynasty whose economic power depended on long-distance sea trade.

During this period, the Mycenaean centers witnessed increased contact with the outside world, especially with the Cyclades and the Minoan centers on the island of Crete. Mycenaean presence appears to be also depicted in a fresco at Akrotiri, on Thera island, which possibly displays many warriors in boar's tusk helmets, a feature typical of Mycenaean warfare. In the early 15th century BC, commerce intensified with Mycenaean pottery reaching the western coast of Asia Minor, including Miletus and Troy, Cyprus, Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt.

Early Mycenaean civilization from the Shaft Grave period generally showcases heavy influence from Minoan Crete in regards to e.g. art, infrastructure and symbols, while also maintaining some Helladic elements as well as some innovations, and some West Asian influences. A difference between Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations is complexity and monumentality; Mycenaean craftmanship and architecture are more simplified versions of Minoan ones, but are more monumental in size. Later phases of the Mycenaean civilization showcase more sophistication, eventually coming to surpass Minoan Crete after a few centuries.

At the end of the Shaft Grave era, a new and more imposing type of elite burial emerged, the tholos: large circular burial chambers with high vaulted roofs and a straight entry passage lined with stone.
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