The Prehistory of Greece: c 10,000 - c 1550 BC
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The Linear B Tablets of Knosos
During the Middle Minoan period the Cretans used a syllabic form of writing known as Linear A. During the Late Minoan period this gives way to Linear B., which has been "deciphered" by the scholar Michael Ventris and has been shown to be a form of Greek. However, the conclusion is not wholly indisputable since the undeciphered language is not a good fit with Greek, and neither with Minoan. Nonetheless, the general opinion is that Linear B represents a form of Greek. The tablets cannot be dated with certainty either. Evans placed them before 1400 BC, but more recently Linear B tablets have been discovered at Pylos, and these can be dated to 1200 BC. They are also identical in respect of script and spelling to those from Knosós, arguing for a coterminous date. However, the linear B tablets at both Knosós and Pylos survived because they were hard baked in an intense fire. There was a fire at Knosós around 1400 BC, so the date of the early c14th is the most likely.
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Contents of
The Prehistory of Greece: c 10,000 - c 1550 BC
1 The Neolithic Age in Greece
2 The Early Helladic Period
3 Troy I
4 Migrations into Greece c. 2500 BC
5 Minoan Civilisation
6 The Greek migration
7 Megaron
8 Middle Helladic Age
9 The Aegean Bronze Age: The Minoan Civilisation: c. 2000 - 1550 BC
10 The golden age of Minoan Crete
11 Volcanic eruption on Thera c. 1600 BC
12 Crete and Mycenae
13 The amber route
14 The Religion of Minoyan Crete
15 The Linear B Tablets of Knosos
16 Relations between the mainland and Crete
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