Scholars rely on physical clues like a 14th century BC figurine of a bird goddess found in the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion and Linear B inscriptions. No complete religious texts survive from the Mycenaean period between 1600 and 1100 BC, leaving researchers with limited archeology and material records.
Po-se-da-o functioned as a chthonic deity connected with earthquakes under the title E-ne-si-da-o-ne meaning earth shaker. Da-pu-ri-to-jo po-ti-ni-ja named the mistress of the Labyrinth at Knossos while Pe-re-swa and Si-to po-ti-ni-ja appear to relate to Persephone and an agricultural goddess respectively.
Martin P. Nilsson asserted that many Minoan gods and religious conceptions fused into Mycenaean religion based on representations and general function. Thomas G. Palaima published research in 2008 stating that key elements of Minoan traditions are either absent or negligible among Mycenaeans despite common origins.
Sites like Lerna typically took the form of house sanctuaries rather than free-standing temples which developed later. Certain buildings found in citadels had a central room called the megaron of oblong shape surrounded by small rooms that may have served as places of worship alongside domestic cults.
Animal sacrifices and votive offerings survived from Mycenaean times into the Greek period with terms such as theos meaning deity persisting. Wooden masks representing human faces found in Artemis temple at Sparta were used by dancers in vegetation-cults during ritual dances.