Why are the Minoans and mycenaeans important in history

They established precedence for Classical Greece and thus Western civilization as a whole. The Minoans were the first true Western civilization, and by all accounts, very sophisticated by 2000 B.C. Their pottery, artwork, and architecture are known to be complex. Their palaces were especially resplendent. They had boardgames, a simple plumbing method, and dominated the Mediterranean through trade, spreading their culture and influence. All this pales in comparison to the fact that the Minoans had the first example of Western written language in Linear B.

Mycenae overtook Minoa as the dominant force in the Mediterranean around 1600 BC, and it is suspected that they had a hand in wiping out the Minoan civilization around 1450 BC. Where Minoa was peaceful and developed through trade, Mycenae was a warring society that expanded through conquest. Regardless, Mycenae was the first mainland Greek civilization of note. Their culture included the writing system Linear A and centered on war. It is believed that these are the Greeks referred to in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. The Mycenae’s civilization was the fore-bearer of Classical Greece.

Here’s a timeline:
Minoa (2700-1450 BC)
Mycenae (1600-1100 BC)
Dark Ages (1200-800 BC) – no civilizations of note, Mycenae in decline from 1200-1100
Archaic Greece (800-510 BC) – rise of the city-state, notably Athens and Sparta
Classical Greece (510-323 BC) – beginning of democracy in its most elementary stages to the death of Alexander the Great.