LINGUISTIC EVIDENCE FOR THE COLLAPSE OF MYCENAEAN GREECE

In showing that in the second millennium bc a dialect continuum characteristic of long-settled areas was spread over most of the territory of Greece, the evidence of the Greek dialects corroborates the archaeological evidence, which suggests little or no break in continuity in the material culture in the same period. We saw that Greek genealogical tradition suggests a similar picture. Yet, all this changes dramatically at the end of the second millennium. The destruction levels and depopulation attested at many Mycenaean sites testify to a sharp break in continuity, and the myth of the destruction of the Race of Heroes obviously purports to account for the same events. The evidence of the dialects not only substantiates this picture but also points towards the factors responsible for the collapse of Mycenaean Greece.

We have seen that the last stage of the dialect continuum is contemporary with the processes that led to the formation of the dialect map of Greece as known to us from the historic period.