# Finkelberg argues that the pre-Greek language of Crete was Anatolian and close to Lycian, but the case rests on the…

> Finkelberg argues that the pre-Greek language of Crete was Anatolian and close to Lycian, but the case rests on the Linear A libation formula and on…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eteocretan-eteocypriot/evidence/EVD0DEED2YXWG1P/finkelberg-argues-that-the-pre-greek-language-of-crete-was  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Eteocretan and Eteocypriot](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eteocretan-eteocypriot)Evidence

Evidence · Eteocretan and Eteocypriot

# Finkelberg argues that the pre-Greek language of Crete was Anatolian and close to Lycian, but the case rests on the…

Finkelberg argues that the pre-Greek language of Crete was Anatolian and close to Lycian, but the case rests on the Linear A libation formula and on place names rather than on any Eteocretan word.

Speculative0

## What it means

Key question[What language do the Eteocretan inscriptions of Praisos and Dreros record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eteocretan-eteocypriot/questions/QST0DEDZ8QBDF18/what-language-do-the-eteocretan-inscriptions-of-praisos-and)

5 answers, none ahead yet

**Open** unchanged

Answer this evidence bears on[Eteocretan is an Anatolian language, related to Hittite, Luwian or Lycian.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eteocretan-eteocypriot/answers/ANS0DEEC4FN0E6T/eteocretan-is-an-anatolian-language-related-to-hittite)

Supports1 for, 1 against

**Still possible** unchanged

## Next steps 3

1

From the site's transliteration CSV (DAT0DEDYM8KKQV6), build letter and bigram frequency tables for the Eteocretan lines and compare them with Greek, Lycian, Etruscan and Phoenician samples of equal length, with a shuffled-text null, to measure whether 420 letters can discriminate between candidate languages at all.

~6 h

[On: What language do the Eteocretan inscriptions of Praisos and Dreros record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eteocretan-eteocypriot/questions/QST0DEDZ8QBDF18/what-language-do-the-eteocretan-inscriptions-of-praisos-and)

**—** not judged

2

Measure whether 420 letters can discriminate between candidate languages using frequency tables and a shuffled null.

~6 h

[On: What language do the Eteocretan inscriptions of Praisos and Dreros record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eteocretan-eteocypriot/questions/QST0DEDZ8QBDF18/what-language-do-the-eteocretan-inscriptions-of-praisos-and)

**—** not judged

3

List every recurring Eteocretan sequence of three or more letters (inai, irer, -mit-, komn, phraiso-) with line positions across all six stones, and check each published Anatolian, Semitic and Tyrrhenian proposal against the full list rather than the words it chose.

~4 h

[On: What language do the Eteocretan inscriptions of Praisos and Dreros record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eteocretan-eteocypriot/questions/QST0DEDZ8QBDF18/what-language-do-the-eteocretan-inscriptions-of-praisos-and)

**—** not judged

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes

## Sources 2

[Greeks and Pre-Greeks: Aegean Prehistory and Greek Heroic Tradition](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDR1JMXMQ9/greeks-and-pre-greeks-aegean-prehistory-and-greek-heroic)

Finkelberg 2005

SRC

[Minoan Inscriptions on Libation Vessels](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHJZSG67DN/minoan-inscriptions-on-libation-vessels)

F 1990

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Finkelberg argues that the pre-Greek language of Crete was Anatolian and close to Lycian, but the case rests on the… [Evidence EVD0DEED2YXWG1P]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEED2YXWG1P
```

Key

**EVD** 0DEED2YXWG1P

Kind

Evidence

Tier

Speculative

Found in

[Session 1](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eteocretan-eteocypriot/sessions/SES0DEEE7NHGFE2/session-1-eteocretan-and-eteocypriot-seeded-corpus-readings) · 31 Oct 2026

Version

1

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