Paleography has always played an important role in the study of the Linear A and Linear B writing systems. Changes in the way that different signs are written over time provide a means of tracing the evolution of the two scripts and analyzing the relationship between them.
It has long been known that at least some ideograms of Linear A, and consequently their Linear B counterparts, were designed by acrophonic abbreviation. The most cited example is that of sign AB30, which represents not only the commodity ‘figs’ but also the phonetic value of ni, from the later attested Cretan gloss nikuleon.
PK Zb 21 is an inscribed pithos-rim fragment found in 1990 in a MM IIIB-LM IA destruction layer in Building 7 at Palaikastro, and published by Jan Driessen in 1991. The four signs are clearly inscribed, but Driessen noted the unusual shape of the first sign, and suggested that it could be a ligature of AB 13 and AB 40 (in the numbering-system advocated in the GORILA volumes).
Dans la tombe à tholos sur la colline de la Képhala (v. ill.), au Nord de Knossos, on trouve deux signes linéaires A qui se lisent a-pi, incisés sur un bloc du jambage sud de l’entrée (‘stomion’) qui donne accès à la chambre funéraire.
It has long been acknowledged that the administrations of the ancient Near East provide important comparanda when considering the workings of the Mycenaean bureaucracy.
Αδιαμφισβήτητα, η περιφέρεια του ΝΑ Αιγαίου είχε τον δικό της ξεχωριστό ρόλο στη μυκηναϊκή επέκταση προς τούς εμπορικούς σταθμούς της ΝΑ Μεσογείου. Οι Μυκηναΐοι χρησιμοποίησαν την περιοχή αυτή ως έναν ενδιάμεσο σταθμό στον θαλάσσιο δρόμο προς την Κύπρο και την ακτή της Συρίας-Παλαιστίνης. Η Ρόδος, ιδιαιτέρως, λόγω της γεωγραφικής θέσης της και της γειτνίασής της με τα εμπορικά λιμάνια της μικρασιατικής ακτής προσέλκυσε από νωρίς το ενδιαφέρον των μυκηναϊκών κέντρων της ηπειρωτικής Ελλάδας.
Katie Demakopoulou & Olga KrzyszkowskaΑρχαιολογική Εφημερίς 148 (2009): 85-95.
Systematic research over the past 25 years has revealed that hippopotamus ivory was used in the Aegean from pre-palatial times until the late Mycenaean period. In addition to finished objects made from this material, parts of tusks have been recovered at Knossos, Thebes and Mycenae.
Nanno MarinatosJournal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 1.1 (January 2009): 22-28.
Sir Arthur Evans believed that Minoan religion was highly indebted to Egyptian thought. He saw that the two cultures shared a solar theology expressed via similar iconographical schemes, such as the heraldic arrangement of lions
Jacke PhillipsJournal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 1.2 (April 2009): 9-25.
Though the fashion for amethyst in Egypt and the Near East had, by the mid-eighteenth century bc, dried up along with the Wadi el-Hudi mine, the stone’s popularity persisted in the Aegean well into the twelfth century.
Luca Bombardieri, Oliva Menozzi, Domenico Fossataro & Anna Margherita JasinkReport of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 2009 [2010]: 131-162.
The excavations on Site 10 (i.e. the most northern site which was surveyed last year on the eastern side of the Kouris), allow us to hypothesize the presence of a system of structures dating back to the Middle Bronze Age, as confirmed by the ceramic evidence: from all the excavated trenches the Red Polished wares are the most widely attested production within the pottery assemblage.
Luca Bombardieri, Domenico Fossataro, Oliva Menozzi & Anna Margherita JasinkReport of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 2009 [2010]: 117-129.
The Kouris Valley Survey Project obtained new interesting results during the 2008 season, confirming the hypotheses formulated in the 2007 report and leading to further working proposals for the future. Our activity in September-October 2008 developed following two main paths: survey and excavation trenches.
Lindy CreweReport of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 2009 [2010]: 89-115.
The Karpas Peninsula during the Bronze Age has long been renowned for a distinctive material culture, particularly the characteristic Red-on-Red and Red-on-Black and related pottery styles (hereafter Red-on-Red/Black) of the latter Middle Cypriot and early Late Cypriot periods (MC ΠΙ-LC I, ca 1750-1450 B.C.).
Andrew P. McCarthy, Ben Blakeman, Mat Dalton, Lisa Graham, Ian Hill & Graham RitchieReport of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 2009 [2010]: 59-88.
The 2008 Prasteio-Mesorotsos Archaeological Expedition involved a first season of non-intrusive investigation of a multi-period archaeological site. The project was run as a field school with students from the University of Edinburgh and involved a geological analysis of the site’s hinterland, a geophysical survey of the site, surface collection of artefacts, a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) analysis of the site topography and artefact spread, and recording (drawing and photography) of exposed archaeological features.
Joanne ClarkeReport of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 2009 [2010]: 39-57.
Kalavasos-Kokkinogia belongs to a cluster of prehistoric sites situated in the lower Vasilikos valley in the coastal lowlands of south-central Cyprus. Kokkinogia extends along the eastern edge of a low north -south ridge with commanding views of the lowlands to the east and south-east.
