What did the clay documents and the seal inscriptions record?
One answer, none aheadNone is ahead yet. See what would settle it.
Where it stands
One answer has been proposed. None is ahead on the evidence yet. One is still possible.
Why it matters
The clay bars, medallions and nodules carry sign groups followed by logograms and decimal numbers, the layout of accounts, and were found in administrative deposits at Knossos, Malia and Petras[1][2]. The seals carry short sign groups that the 2024 volume's contributors take to name the owner or office rather than the goods stamped, and Civitillo relates seal shape, stone and sequence to the holder's rank[3][4]. Valério and Flouda argue that the script has true logograms, as the double-axe sign on a prism from Myrtos Pyrgos shows[4].
Answers 1
History
- Jean-Pierre Olivier et al.: the clay documents come from administrative deposits and combine sign groups with logograms and decimal numerals, the…For: The clay documents are administrative accounts of commodities and quantities, and the seal inscriptions carry the…
- Metaxia Tsipopoulou: the clay documents come from administrative deposits and combine sign groups with logograms and decimal numerals, the…For: The clay documents are administrative accounts of commodities and quantities, and the seal inscriptions carry the…
- Anna Margherita Jasink: contributors to the 2024 volume read the seal sequences as owners' names or offices, with seal shape and stone tied to…For: The clay documents are administrative accounts of commodities and quantities, and the seal inscriptions carry the…
- Cassandra M. Donnelly: contributors to the 2024 volume read the seal sequences as owners' names or offices, with seal shape and stone tied to…For: The clay documents are administrative accounts of commodities and quantities, and the seal inscriptions carry the…
- Session 1: raised the question