Imagining Cretan Scripts: The Influence of Visual Motifs on the Creation of Script-Signs in Bronze Age Crete

Abstract

What's in a sign? What is there to be ‘seen’ in a sign? This paper sets out to explore the sources and processes of sign creation in the scripts of the Bronze Age Aegean, namely Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A, in use on Crete from c. 1900–1600 bce (Middle Minoan IB/II–Middle Minoan III) and c. 1800–1450 bce (Middle Minoan IIA–Late Minoan IB) respectively. Linear B, developed out of Linear A to write Greek (c. 1450–1190 bce), will also be touched upon where relevant. By investigating contemporary iconographic production and putting forward a methodological framework for the analysis and interpretation of visual motifs, a theory will be tentatively proposed for understanding the process(es) of selection of sign shapes, their incorporation into a script as script-signs and their transmission from one script onto a graphically related one. The underlying research questions leading this enquiry are the following: how did ‘images’ find their way into script(s) to become ‘signs’ in the Aegean context? Are we able to reconstruct such a process to shed light on the origin of script-signs?