Ancient civilization: Mycenaean evolution and the revolution of Dark Ages

Abstract

This article continues the series of publications devoted to the universum evolution of ancient civilization and its sub-civilizations. The author analyzes the evolution of the Mycenaean civilizational area and the revolutionary changes of the dark ages. It is shown that the Mycenaean civilizational range, like Crete-Cyclades, belongs to the Middle subtype of the Eastern type of social evolution; however, unlike the latter, the coastal and inland continental subareas are quite clearly identified. With the prevalence of their common Middle-East-West (MEW) characteristics, the first component has a comparatively high significance of the Western type, and therefore, the Middle-Western subtype of the Eastern type is inherent in it, while the Middle subtype prevails in the second component, which is typical for the Middle-Middle subtype of the Eastern type of evolution. The Dorian conquests of the Sub-Mycenaean period interrupted the dominance of the Eastern line of social evolution in Ancient Greece. The palace farms were destroyed, and so were the corresponding social forms. The "Iron Revolution" of the X-XI centuries catalyzed the processes immanent to the Middle type of social evolution. In the Homeric era, on the one hand, the components of the universal Middle ground “declared their claims to dominance”, in particular, in the form of technological patterns of non-irrigated agriculture, cattle breeding, river and sea fishing, community military democracy, collective-individual community appropriation of indivisible land, basic tools and proto-ins titles. On the other hand, components of a new, special Middle type appear, for example, collective-clan (family) private exo-appropriation of land and tools, and collective-clan (family) personal endo-appropriation of essential human powers and institutions. Unfortunately, the shortage of historical data prevents accurate definition of the evolution subtype of Homer's society.