The Coming of the GreeksCrouwel's more exhaustive study concludes that an Egyptian
origin "is not very likely" (among other small differences, the
Aegean chariot—like those shown in Syrian art—has a rectan-
gular box, whereas the Egyptian chariot had a rounded box). 48
Crouwel's own explanation for the arrival of chariots in
Greece is rather different from Schachermeyr's. Like Schacher-
meyr, however, Crouwel accounts for the chariots without pos-
tulating an invasion of the Argolid ca. 1600 B.C. and supposes
that the shaft-grave charioteers were native Greeks (both schol-
ars assumed that by 1600 B.C. the Greeks had been in Greece
for several centuries). Since Crouwel's book is and will long
remain the definitive study of Mycenaean chariots, his recon-
struction of the way in which the shaft-grave chariots came to
Greece deserves careful scrutiny:
It has sometimes been suggested that they were in-
troduced, and to Mycenae in particular, by foreign
immigrants, possibly invaders (both Hyksos ex-
pelled from Egypt and Indo-European Greeks have
been put forward) and that the people of the Shaft
Graves were no other than these same intruders. I
believe this is unlikely. As O. Dickinson has re-
cently argued, the Shaft Graves of Mycenae proba-
bly represent the rise of vigorous local chieftain
families. The growth of an indigenous ruling class,
which can also be observed at this time in other
parts of mainland Greece, notably Messenia, marks
the transition from the Middle Helladic period to
Mycenaean civilization. Striking, if not yet fully
understood, features of this process are the massed
wealth of the early Mycenaeans and their close ties
with the Cyclades and especially with Crete. These
rulers had a great interest in weaponry, fighting
and hunting, and the chariot would have fitted in- Crouwel, Chariots, 148.
175