Revisiting 1177 BCE and the Late Bronze Age Collapse

A critical reassessment of the Late Bronze Age collapse (ca. 1200 BCE) challenges the dominant climate-change-migration narrative, arguing that regional diversity and local conflicts better explain the decline of palatial states like Mycenae and Tiryns. While paleoclimatic evidence suggests droughts, inconsistencies in data and the lack of pan-regional synchrony undermine claims of a megadrought-driven collapse. Instead, the study proposes that interstate rivalry, warfare, and social unrest were primary drivers of change, with non-palatial regions showing continuity. The research synthesizes archaeological, textual, and environmental data to advocate for a more nuanced, locally grounded understanding of the Late Bronze Age transformation in the eastern Mediterranean.

Middleton, G. D. (2022). Revisiting 1177 BCE and the Late Bronze Age Collapse. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies, 10(2), 186–191. https://doi.org/10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.10.2.0186