B.W. Fortson, IV, defines the Greek Dark Ages as "The period from the demise of Mycenaean civilization to the earliest appearance of alphabetic Greek in the eighth century ...." The idea is that in the breakdown of peace and stability suffered by the Mycenaean kingdoms they entered a period of fear, isolation, and economic depression in which their writing system was lost causing a subsequent deficit of written records, interpreted by later historians as "darkness."
The view is too simple, however.

While it is true that the palaces were destroyed by fire, it is untrue that they were all burned in the same year or even the same decade by a single wave of Dorian tribes from the region later known as Macedonia.
The dates of the destructions differ by as much as a generation.
Chadwick asks, "... where were all the Dorians during the Mycenaean period?
And why were they content to wait in the wings until the time was right for this intrusion?"
His own theory was that the Mycenaeans were incendiary to each other's palaces in a rash of infradynastic conflicts.
These would have occupied the entire 11th century BC.
There was no sudden influx of all the Dorians in one great invasion, but rather an insistent occupation of the Peloponnesus over a century or more.
It has to be counted as Dorian from the 10th century BC on.
Most of the former Achaean inhabitants escaped to the now depopulated coast of Anatolia as Ionians and Aeolians.
Athens remained firm.

Among the Achaeans of Cyprus, on the edge of the Greek world, writing failed to disappear.
They continued to write their own conservative dialect, Arcadocypriot Greek, in a few scripts of Cypriote syllabary, which they had innovated on the model of Linear A and Linear B. They were fairly isolated from their former homeland by the spread of Dorians to Crete, the southern Cyclades, and southern Anatolia.
When the concept of a Greek alphabet arrived, they innovated with the Phoenician alphabet to make it fit their language, and the two systems continued side-by-side until Hellenistic times, when Attic became the common dialect.
Meanwhile their dialect continued in the hills of Arcadia, but it had no writing system there.
This Dark Age interlude in Greece is not generally interpreted as a return to prehistoric times.
It is a historic age with gaps in its history, which is how the archaeologists treat it.

In both Blegen and Korfmann, Homeric Troy ends at the end of Blegen's Troy VIIa, Korfmann's VIi, with the burning of the city, presumably by Achaeans.
Legend has the Trojans vanishing away, either escaping, as did Aeneas and his very large band, being slaughtered, as were Priam and his wife, or being carted off into slavery, as were the literary Trojan women.
Apparently, no Trojans seem to have been left.
Their enemies would have cleared them entirely away, leaving the ruined city vacant and non-dangerous.

The archaeology suggests that the literary implication of a deserted city is probably not true.
After a suitable interval of hiding somewhere else in the region, perhaps with the Dardanians, who were not defeated, but appeared as marauders among the sea peoples, or further inland with the Hittites, the Trojan remnants returned to Troy to rebuild Troy VIIb, which, according to Blegen, "... obviously represents a direct survival of the culture that prevailed in Troy VIIa."
The initial VIIb period is VIIb1, which Korfmann suggests should be VIj.
and regards as "transitional to the Early Iron Age."
As yet, however, it is contemporary with LHIIIC (LBA) pottery on the mainland.
The reconstruction does not appear to have been opposed by the palaces, such as at Pylos, which were still standing.
The return to a simpler pottery causes Korfmann to hypothesize a "humble folk" investment of the ruins.

Troy VIIb2 begins contemporaneously with LHIIIC, but at about 1050 BC the last of IIIC disappears, to be replaced by Sub-Mycenaean pottery, a short-lived Mycenaean-like pottery with geometric motifs, considered transitional to Geometric pottery, the ware characteristic everywhere in the Greek world of
B.W. Fortson, IV, defines the Greek Dark Ages as "The period from the demise of Mycenaean civilization to the earliest appearance of alphabetic Greek in the eighth century ...." The idea is that in the breakdown of peace and stability suffered by the Mycenaean kingdoms they entered a period of fear, isolation, and economic depression in which their writing system was lost causing a subsequent deficit of written records, interpreted by later historians as "darkness." The view is too simple, however.
While it is true that the palaces were destroyed by fire, it is untrue that they were all burned in the same year or even the same decade by a single wave of Dorian tribes from the region later known as Macedonia. The dates of the destructions differ by as much as a generation. Chadwick asks, "... where were all the Dorians during the Mycenaean period? And why were they content to wait in the wings until the time was right for this intrusion?" His own theory was that the Mycenaeans were incendiary to each other's palaces in a rash of infradynastic conflicts. These would have occupied the entire 11th century BC. There was no sudden influx of all the Dorians in one great invasion, but rather an insistent occupation of the Peloponnesus over a century or more. It has to be counted as Dorian from the 10th century BC on. Most of the former Achaean inhabitants escaped to the now depopulated coast of Anatolia as Ionians and Aeolians. Athens remained firm.
Among the Achaeans of Cyprus, on the edge of the Greek world, writing failed to disappear. They continued to write their own conservative dialect, Arcadocypriot Greek, in a few scripts of Cypriote syllabary, which they had innovated on the model of Linear A and Linear B. They were fairly isolated from their former homeland by the spread of Dorians to Crete, the southern Cyclades, and southern Anatolia. When the concept of a Greek alphabet arrived, they innovated with the Phoenician alphabet to make it fit their language, and the two systems continued side-by-side until Hellenistic times, when Attic became the common dialect. Meanwhile their dialect continued in the hills of Arcadia, but it had no writing system there. This Dark Age interlude in Greece is not generally interpreted as a return to prehistoric times. It is a historic age with gaps in its history, which is how the archaeologists treat it.
In both Blegen and Korfmann, Homeric Troy ends at the end of Blegen's Troy VIIa, Korfmann's VIi, with the burning of the city, presumably by Achaeans. Legend has the Trojans vanishing away, either escaping, as did Aeneas and his very large band, being slaughtered, as were Priam and his wife, or being carted off into slavery, as were the literary Trojan women. Apparently, no Trojans seem to have been left. Their enemies would have cleared them entirely away, leaving the ruined city vacant and non-dangerous.
The archaeology suggests that the literary implication of a deserted city is probably not true. After a suitable interval of hiding somewhere else in the region, perhaps with the Dardanians, who were not defeated, but appeared as marauders among the sea peoples, or further inland with the Hittites, the Trojan remnants returned to Troy to rebuild Troy VIIb, which, according to Blegen, "... obviously represents a direct survival of the culture that prevailed in Troy VIIa." The initial VIIb period is VIIb1, which Korfmann suggests should be VIj. and regards as "transitional to the Early Iron Age." As yet, however, it is contemporary with LHIIIC (LBA) pottery on the mainland. The reconstruction does not appear to have been opposed by the palaces, such as at Pylos, which were still standing. The return to a simpler pottery causes Korfmann to hypothesize a "humble folk" investment of the ruins.
Troy VIIb2 begins contemporaneously with LHIIIC, but at about 1050 BC the last of IIIC disappears, to be replaced by Sub-Mycenaean pottery, a short-lived Mycenaean-like pottery with geometric motifs, considered transitional to Geometric pottery, the ware characteristic everywhere in the Greek world of
Troy