Who were the mycenaeans? Bronze Age Greeks. Conventionally, this name is given to the inhabitants of mainland Greece in the Late Bronze Age: it’s the period during which, following the apparent poverty of the preceding period (Middle Helladic (MH)), the Argolid (around Mycenae), but also other regions such as Messenia (around Pylos), sees a spectacular development and tries to compete with the Crete of the Second Palaces.

Still, this definition calls out for nuance and precision. The adjective ‘Mycenaean’ was first applied to the ‘pre-Homeric’ remains found at Mycenae and neighbouring sites; that’s to say, to its material culture. It then took on a chronological meaning (the ‘Mycenaean period’) insofar as these remains belonged to an historical period thus far unknown (other than through the Homeric poems).