 The Mycenaean Greeks introduced several innovations in the fields of engineering , architecture and military infrastructure , while trade over vast areas of the Mediterranean was essential for the Mycenaean economy . Their syllabic script , the Linear B , offers the first written records of the Greek language and their religion already included several deities that can be also found in Olympic Pantheon . Mycenaean Greece was dominated by a warrior elite society and consisted of a network of palace states that developed rigid hierarchical , political , social and economic systems . At the head of this societies was the king , known as wanax . 
