Oldest known written record in Europe discovered

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Oldest known written record in Europe discovered


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Oldest known written record in Europe discovered
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Saturday, April 2, 2011  |  News

A clay tablet discovered in an excavation in Greece has changed what is known about the origins of literacy and bureaucracy in Bronze Age Southern Europe. Measuring 5cm by 8cm, this tiny tablet fragment is thought to be the earliest known written record in Europe – dating back to between 1450 and 1350 B.C. – 100 to 150 years before the tablets from the Petsas House at Mycenae.

“I was in disbelief,” said Michael Cosmopoulos, the Professor of Greek Studies at University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL)U and director of the Iklaina Archaeological Project, which he has directed for 11 years. “According to what we knew, that tablet should not have been there.”

The rare find was unearthed in 2010 at Iklaina, which lies in the middle of an olive grove in southwest Greece.

    Iklaina dates to the Mycenaean period (ca. 1500-1100 B.C.), an era famous for mythical sagas such as the Trojan War

Iklaina dates to the Mycenaean period (ca. 1500-1100 B.C.), an era famous for mythical sagas such as the Trojan War. It was one of the capital cities of famed King Nestor, who figures prominently in Homer’s “Iliad.”

“This is a rare case where archaeology meets ancient texts and Greek myths,” Cosmopoulos said.

The Mycenaeans used clay tablets in their palaces to record state property and transactions. These tablets are written in the Linear B system of writing – which consists of around 87 syllabic signs. These signifying signs stand for objects or commodities and the tablets are mostly lists of property and accounting records. Archaeologists are still studying the Iklaina tablet, but preliminary analysis suggests it may refer to some sort of manufacturing process.

“On the front there is a verb that relates to some sort of manufacturing,” Cosmopoulos said. “On the rear, there is a list of men’s names alongside numbers.”

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Tablets like this were not meant to be kept more than a year and as a result were only baked in the sun and are preserved only if accidentally burned, which is the case of the Iklaina tablet.

The discovery was found in a burned refuse dump dated to between 1450 and 1350 B.C.   The tablet is only the latest in a series of discoveries at Iklaina, in the last two years, the excavation has brought to light evidence for the existence of early Mycenaean: elaborate architecture, massive ‘Cyclopean’ terrace walls, colourful murals and a drainage system far ahead of its time.
Complete example of Linear B script tablet. Image: Wikimedia commons




Complete example of Linear B script tablet from Pylos. Image: Wikimedia commons

These pieces are indicative of a major power centre, potentially an early Mycenaean state capital. Cosmopoulos is cautious, however, and said that it is too soon to tell whether Iklaina was one or not. Currently, there is only a handful of known major state capitals, such as Pylos and Mycenae.

“Iklaina could potentially challenge what we know about the origins of states in ancient Greece,” Cosmopoulos said. “Not only does it push the origins of those states back in time by at least a century and a half, but the tablet shows that literacy and bureaucracy appeared earlier and were more widespread than what we had thought until now. We still have a lot to learn about the ancient world.”

Each summer Cosmopoulos returns to the dig site with a team of about 40-60 students from around the world and 25-30 staff and specialists. The land of the excavation was purchased on behalf of the Greek government, and by law all the finds remain in the local museum as property of the Greek state.

An article about the tablet is being published in the April 2011 issue of “Proceedings of the Athens Archaeological Society
http://www.pasthorizons.com/index.php/archives/04/2011/oldest-known-written-record-in-europe-discovered

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The back of the tablet discovered in Iklaina, Greece. Photo: Christian Mundigler

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The back of the tablet discovered in Iklaina, Greece. Photo: Christian Mundigler