a dump next to the central sewer that contained burnt shards. A fragment of a Linear B tablet was discovered there that bore writing on both sides. This tablet dates to the LHIIB-IIIA1 period, i.e. around 1450-1400 B.C., which makes it the earliest Mycenaean tablet that has been found to date on the mainland of Greece. Furthermore, during the excavation period of 2012, an open-air sanctuary was discovered, also unique for that period, and for mainland Greece in general. Another important find of the same excavation period was a large rectangular building (Building X), in front of which passed a paved street, of an exceptionally elaborate construction, possibly a processional street, which led the way from the houses of the settlement to the complex of the Cyclopean Terrace. The available evidence indicates that Iklaina was a powerful Mycenaean centre in the LH IIB/ IIIA1 period. The large building complexes, the rich finds, the refined taste, and the advanced level of technical knowledge of the inhabitants suggests that Iklaina could have been the capital of an autonomous small state that may have clashed with a neighboring state at Ano Englianos, which may have subdued the former and demoted it to a secondary capital of one of the provinces of Pylia. A final destruction of the ancient city seems to have occurred at about 1200 B.C. Village population References External links Website of the Iklaina Archaeological Project https://web.archive.org/web/20050209152200/http://www.unc.edu/awmc/iklainaarchproj.html - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://archaeology.about.com/b/a/073254.htm Populated places in Messenia Mycenaean sites in the Peloponnese (region) Populated places in ancient Greece Pylos Late Bronze Age collapse