The paper will build on the idea that forms of social memory were closely tied with the political structure of a society. The more autocratically organized and centralized a society is, the more possibilities exist for powerful groups to enforce a certain outlook on the past, while in societies in which a monopoly of the legitimate use of violence does not exist due to a lack of strong centralized power, there is a greater likelihood of the co-existence of contrasting discourses. The paper will explore what the transformation from the highly centralized and complex Mycenaean palatial society of the 13th cent. BCE to the much simpler organized post-palatial society meant for the integration of earlier monuments in forms of social communication. It will be argued that the quick recovery of the former palatial centers of the Argolid after the palatial demise was fuelled by a highly competitive situation in-between groups which employed architectural remnants of the past to push their own agenda.