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jkershaw t1_izh0mzu wrote

Reply to comment by Gideonn1021 in Conflict in Central Europe leading to Bronze Age Collapse by Gideonn1021

The west to east trend only seems to be true because most of the people in the east were the ones writing. Could have been people going the other way too but because there are fewer sources it creates the impression that there wasn't.

As for period, the turbulence went on for a much longer period than that. Take Crete - the Minoans suffered several palatial destructions in the 2-300 years before the 'final' collapse in 1200BC, including the invasion/transition into Mycenaean culture. The same is true across the board. There may have been a cluster around the 'end' of the bronze age, but considering how hard it is to date things cohesively, these could have been generations apart and represent totally different events.

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Gideonn1021 OP t1_izh2233 wrote

You are absolutely right I didn't think about the bias that exists with these theories because of the records that exist. Your points also make me wonder how much the Minoan and Mycenaean turmoil affected their counterparts across the Mediterranean, as in whether they themselves were a major factor leading to general collapse or they were victims of a larger chain of events along with everyone else

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jkershaw t1_izh2dsr wrote

It's very possible. There are lots of records of the various rulers sending each other both the raw materials they depended on for their economies as well as the prestige goods they used to demonstrate their superiority and right to rule.

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CallFromMargin t1_izhymae wrote

I'm pretty sure there are some evidence of mass migration from today's northern Italy to Greece, and that's based on pins found along the way. Although it's possible those cloth pins were just being traded.

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