The mainland of the 15th century did not have any revolutionary developments in the political, economic or social sense. The political, economic and social systems thus had been moving toward the North East's idea centralization. The population was growing, and foreign trade was booming.

The purpose of my paper is to examine the political and social systems of Mycenae by means of closely examining their power bureaucracy, social systems, and their trade; both imports and exports. All information is gathered from the Tablets, archaeol

There is little concrete information that can be understood about Mycenaean ships and the exact trade routes taken by the Mycenaeans. During the Classical period, the route to Italy and Sicily included sailing by the Ionian Islands, up the West coast of Greece, and across the narrowing of the Adriatic. This route is still followed today, the Mycenaeans probably used the same route.

Now that I have explored the political organization of Mycenae, I'll focus on the economics of the civilization. Archaeological finds show that the Mycenaean's were rich and complex. In the beginning of their civilization the Mycenaean's turned their attention towards the sea and foreign lands. Natural Resources were of a scarcity on Ancient Mycenae, which lead the Mycenaean's to trade. The first evidence of trade comes from the Lipari Islands that lie to the North of Sicily.

**The wealthy had enough money to afford chariots, and horses and other expensive bronze items of weaponry, in comparison to the peasants who rowed ships and cooked meals for the soldiers.

By a combination of Homer, the Linear B tablets, and archaeology, an ideal of Mycenae's political structure can be fashioned. Mycenae was not an empire; rather it was a mainland composed of many independent states subject to one ruler, the wanax. The main area of civilization was on the Peloponnese, where the towns Mycenae, Pylos, Tiryns, Athens, and Thebes were prominent. Mycenae's political system was of a number of kinglets controlled by one king holding supreme power over all.

The earliest ship representation was found on a Middle Helladic vase from Thessaly. Mythology explains that Argo built the ship for Jason, and all of the heroes sailed on this ship in quest for the Golden Fleece. Two Iolkos ships are portrayed on the vase. Although only indistinguishable fragments remain, it can be deciphered that aboard the vessel, a ram (a prolongation of the keel) was present, which would make the ship able for war and piracy. Much like Egyptian vessels contemporary with the vase, a rudder and oars are indicated. Later representations reveal a cabin.

A number of potsherds have been uncovered. The vast number of pottery located in the Lipari Islands suggests that the islands were an important trading port for the Mycenaean merchants. The Lipari Islands were naturally wealthy in the obsidian, which is black volcanic glass. Obsidian was an important import for the Mycenaean's. Obsidian was turned into knife blades, arrowheads, scrapers and other useful tools. Obsidian was a cheep source that could be used to meet the high demand of needs for everyday tools. Obsidian, however, was also a natural resource on the island of Melos.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Aegean Egyptians, Pylos Linear, Homer's Greek, Dark Ages, Plain Argos, Middle Helladic, North East's, Knossos Homer, Ages Recent, Leader People, linear tablets, records kept, political system, social systems, lipari islands, surplus exported, chadwick suggested, mycenae's political, king mycenae, pylos knossos, bureaucracy social systems, power bureaucracy social, social systems trade, social systems mycenae, political social systems,
Approximate Word count = 4021
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page double spaced)