THE TABLET-MAKERS OF PYLOS: AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRODUCTION OF LINEAR B TABLETS

Judson, Anna P.

Abstract

The Linear B administrative texts of Late Bronze Age Greece were written on clay tablets, whose production therefore formed the first stage in the process of document creation, though it generally remains unclear whether the tablets’ writers were also their makers. This study combines experimental archaeology with autopsy of the tablets from Pylos in order to investigate the methods by which the Linear B tablets were created at this site. It thereby sheds light not only on the physical processes involved in shaping the clay, but also on the decisions involved on the part of the tablet-makers, and hence on the relationship between the ‘making’ and ‘writing’ stages of the process of creating the Linear B documents.

Citation

Judson, A. P. (online). THE TABLET-MAKERS OF PYLOS: AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRODUCTION OF LINEAR B TABLETS. Annual of the British School at Athens, 118, 147-170. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068245423000059

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 9, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jun 29, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023
• Deposit Date: Jul 19, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 15, 2023
• Journal: The Annual of the British School at Athens
• Print ISSN: 0068-2454
• Electronic ISSN: 2045-2403
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 118
• Pages: 147-170
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068245423000059
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1169352