The Prehistory of Greece: c 10,000 - c 1550 BC
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The Greek migration
The Greek language was not spoken in the Aegean prior to 1950 BC. Most pre-Hellenic place-names are related to languages from Asia Minor. Classical Greek writers reckoned that prior to the Hellenes the mainland was occupied by people from Karia (from south-west Asia) called the Leleges. Northern parts were occupied by the Pelasgoi. These speculations are supported by the evidence of archaeology. Greek place-names, many of which end in -sos, -ssos, -ttos seem to derive from Karian place names ending in -sa and -nda. These include Knosós, Amnisós, Parnasós, Hymettós, Lárisa, Halikarnasós, Corinth, Tiryns (Tiryntha), Olynthos, Mont Kynthos (in Delos), Londos (in Rhodes), Alabanda, Labraunda, Argos (meaning plain by the sea). The ending -ene is seen in the names of Messene, Athenai, Mytilene, Priene. The -s and -nth terminations also appear in some Greek common nouns comprising either country words such as the names of plants, or words related to civilisation. Examples are hyancith, narcissus, mintha (mint), terebinth, absinthe, acanthus, cypress, plinth, thálassa (sea), nesós (island), asaminthos (bath).Some scholars see a relationship between early Greek and proto-Luvian and proto-Hittite. The proto-Luvians may have sacked Troy I in the second half of the third millennium. This idea is supported by the myth of the migration of Pelops the Phrygian to mainland Greece. However, it is not likely that the main language of Greece during this period was a form of Luvian. Thus it is likely that the early Greek invaders were an uncivilized people coming into contact with a more advanced culture. The Greek language is part of the Indo-European family of languages. They are regarded as a branch of the "Aryan" people, the same barbarians that invaded India c. 1600 BC. The homeland of these people has not been identified with certainty, though it is probable that they originated from migrations of Indo-European speakers from north of the Black Sea. By the third millennium these barbarians had domesticated cattle and horses and made pottery using the wheel; a warlike society had evolved and men had become dominant. Archaeological evidence suggests that these northerners entered Macedonia c. 2000 BC from whence they moved into Thessaly. It is likely that bands of marauders and migrants were constantly infiltrating the Aegean seeking settlements.
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Contents of
The Prehistory of Greece: c 10,000 - c 1550 BC
1 The Neolithic Age in Greece
2 The Early Helladic Period
3 Troy I
4 Migrations into Greece c. 2500 BC
5 Minoan Civilisation
6 The Greek migration
7 Megaron
8 Middle Helladic Age
9 The Aegean Bronze Age: The Minoan Civilisation: c. 2000 - 1550 BC
10 The golden age of Minoan Crete
11 Volcanic eruption on Thera c. 1600 BC
12 Crete and Mycenae
13 The amber route
14 The Religion of Minoyan Crete
15 The Linear B Tablets of Knosos
16 Relations between the mainland and Crete
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