1B Linear B

Question 1

What is Linear B? When was it used?

Answer 1

• Writing system that was used for Greek

- In the Mycenean period (c.1600-c.1200 BC)

Question 2

What was Linear B primarily used for?

Answer 2

• For lists of assets, income and expenditure for the large palace complexes that people lived in

Question 3

What was Linear B written on? How did these survive?

Answer 3

• Written on clay tablets

- The tablets only survived when they were baked at the burning of the palaces at the end of the Mycenean period

Question 4

Where do most of the surviving Linear B tablets come from?

Answer 4

• Pylos in Greece or Knossos on Crete

Question 5

What 3 kinds of signs did Linear B include?

Answer 5

• Ideograms (stands for the word’s meaning rather than the sound like £)
• Syllabograms (stand for syllables)
• Numerals (numbers)