The Undeciphered Aegean Scripts

The decipherment of Linear B, an early form of Greek used by the Myceneans, by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick has long been celebrated. But five other scripts from the Bronze-Age Aegean remain undeciphered. In this book, Brent Davis provides a thorough introduction to these scripts and uses statistical techniques drawn from linguistics to provide insights into the languages lying behind them. He deals most extensively with the script of the Minoan civilization on Crete ("Linear A"), whose decipherment remains one of the Holy Grails of archaeology. He discusses linguistic topics in clear language and explains linguistic terms in a comprehensive glossary. The book also includes all data on which the various analyses of the scripts are based. It will therefore be of great interest and use not just to experts in the undeciphered Aegean scripts, but to novices and aficionados of decipherment as well.

BRENT DAVIS is Associate Professor of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Melbourne. He has completed degrees in both linguistics and archaeology and has undertaken more than a dozen years of archaeological fieldwork in Israel. He was the 2019 recipient of University College London's prestigious Michael Ventris Award for Mycenaean Studies; Part II of this book is the direct result of the research he carried out under that award.