Plagues and the Bronze Age Collapse Naue II Swords Germs and Iron

Abstract

This article is the first to use evidence from the Coronavirus to look at the role of pandemic in contributing to social and economic collapse that marked the end of the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean, ca. 12th century BCE. This was an event that resulted in the destruction of the Mycenaean kingdoms, the desolation of the Cretan coastline, the fall of Troy, and the destruction of many maritime and coastal gateway cities around the Mediterranean.