Aegean Linear Script(s): Rethinking the Relationship Between Linear A and Linear B (Cambridge Classical Studies)

"When does a continuum become a divide? This book investigates the genetic relationship between Linear A and Linear B, two Bronze Age scripts attested on Crete and Mainland Greece and understood to have developed one out of the other. By using an interdisciplinary methodology, this research integrates linguistic, epigraphic, palaeographic and archaeological evidence, and places the writing practice in its sociohistorical setting. By challenging traditional views, this work calls into question widespread assumptions and interpretative schemes on the relationship between these two scripts, and opens up new perspectives on the ideology associated with the retention, adaptation and transmission of a script, and how identity was negotiated at a moment of closer societal interaction between Cretans and Greek-speaking Mainlanders in the Late Bronze Age. By delving deeper into the structure and inner workings of these two writing systems, this book will make us rethink the relationship between Linear A and B" Cover Half-title page Title page Copyright page Dedication page Contents List of Figures List of Tables Preface Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations 1 INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 1.1 Setting the Scene 1.2 Questioning Cultural (and Ethnic) ‘Labels’ 1.3 Questioning the Unquestionable: Some Theoretical Preliminaries 1.4 Linear A and Linear B: A First Assessment 2 WHAT DOES LINEAR A LOOK LIKE? 2.1 The Nature of the Evidence 2.2 Linear A Structure 2.3 Linear A Palaeography 3 WHAT DOES LINEAR B LOOK LIKE? 3.1 The Nature of the Evidence 3.2 Linear B Structure 3.3 Linear B Palaeography 4 INTERPRETATIVE MODELS 4.1 Structural Model 4.2 Palaeographical Model 5 OVERALL CONCLUSIONS Bibliography General Index Index of Signs Cited Uses an interdisciplinary approach to throw light on the transmission process of Linear A to Linear B script, by combining structural and linguistic analyses with epigraphic, palaeographic and archaeological investigations and by placing the writing practice in its socio-historical setting. Of interest to linguists, archaeologists and historians.