To interpret, indeed, the era from 1000 to 800 as a period mainly of consolidation may be a necessary but unfortunate defect born of our lack of detailed information; if we could see more deeply, we probably would find many side issues and wrong turnings which came to an end within the period. The historian can only point out those lines which were major enough to find reflection in our limited evidence, and must hope that future excavations will enrich our understanding. Throughout the Dark ages, it is clear, the Greek world had been developing slowly but consistently. The pace could now be accelerated, for the inhabitants of the Aegean stood on firm ground.

The landscape of Greek history broadens widely, and rather abruptly, in the eighth century B.C., the age of Homer's ``rosy fingered Dawn.'' The first slanting rays of the new day cannot yet dispel all the dark shadows which lie across the Aegean world; but our evidence grows considerably in variety and shows more unmistakably some of the lines of change. For this period, as for earlier centuries, pottery remains the most secure source; the ceramic material of the age is more abundant, more diversified, and more indicative of the hopes and fears of its makers, who begin to show scenes of human life and death. Figurines and simple chapels presage the emergence of sculpture and architecture in Greece; objects in gold, ivory, and bronze grow more numerous. Since writing was practiced in the Aegean before the end of the century, we may hope that the details of tradition will now be occasionally useful. Though it is not easy to apply the evidence of the Iliad to any specific era, this marvelous product of the epic tradition had certainly taken definitive shape by 750.