College of Humanities
23 Linear B: A Snapshot
Caleb Curtis
Faculty Mentor: Alexis Christensen (Humanities, University of Utah)
Linear B: A Snapshot of the Environment
In the existing literature surrounding the Myceneans (the culture that rose to prominence in the Aegean during the latter half of the Bronze Age c. 1400-1200 BCE) and the world they lived in, the study of the historical climate of the Eastern Mediterranean has become increasingly popular. In light of the crises arising from anthropogenic climate change, there is a desire to look back at the past, to people who endured periods of climate change in order to understand how they endured such changes. One period to which the modern scholar can look is the end of the Bronze Age. Much like today, the latter portion of the bronze age c. 1400-1200 BCE was a time in which the cultures of western Asia and the eastern Mediterranean existed and participated in what can aptly be called a globalized economy, though it is important to note that global here is referring to this particular portion of the world. From the River Nile to the Euphrates, from the Baltic to the Indian Sea, trade was essential for the functioning of the complex societies of the region as well as a key component in the international politics of the time (Cline, 181-184). These ancient peoples both imported and exported goods. Exports included textiles, mainly consisting of linen and wool; metal objects; olives, both the fruit itself and oil; wine; leatherwork; ceramics; furniture; and jewelry (Pomeroy et al. 31, 32). Mycenean society was no different and the various polities governed from the palace complexes that dotted the rugged landscape of Greece participated in these trade networks (Kelder, 339-349).
Record keeping was essential for the successful functioning of the Mycenean centers, and it might well be the spark that ignited the art of writing. In letters and administrative records, the rulers, and bureaucrats of this region of the world recorded the economic exchanges essential to the functioning of these societies. During the late Bronze Age, the Myceneans inhabiting both the mainland and the islands of what is now roughly Greece, used a system now call Linear B. This is a syllabic system that consist of signs representing syllables and pure vowels1. In addition, there are both ideograms representing different ideas such as man, woman, cow, or flax and numerical signs. These symbols record an early form of Greek. Scribes would write in this early Greek script on clay tablets that were often recycled. At Pylos, located in the Peloponnesian peninsula, the recycling of tablets was a normal part of the administrative year (Judson, 135). It is only by accident that tablets have survived to the modern day (Cline, 124). Unluckily for the Myceneans and luckily for us, the palace complexes of the Aegean were destroyed around 1200 BCE. Across most palatial sites there is a layer of debris indicating destruction, a destruction