Deciphering the Linear B Story

Overview

Topic: The discovery, mystery, and eventual decipherment of the Linear B script.
Source: A TED-Ed lesson by Susan Lupack, presented as a short, animated educational video.
Timeframe: Tablets discovered in the early 1900s; the writing remained undeciphered for about 50 years before its meaning was understood.

Person	Role / Contribution
Sir Arthur Evans	Archaeologist who excavated nearly 3,000 clay tablets and named the script “Linear B.”
Susan Lupack	Educator who explains the history and mystery of Linear B in the TED-Ed lesson.
Movult	Animation studio responsible for directing and producing the visual side of the video.
Bethany Cutmore-Scott	Narrator who delivers the lesson’s script.
Stephen LaRosa	Composer who created the music used in the animated lesson.

In the early 1900s, Sir Arthur Evans uncovered close to 3,000 clay tablets covered with unfamiliar signs and symbols.
He grouped this writing into a category he called “Linear B,” distinguishing it from other inscriptions found at the same site.
Evans believed these symbols recorded the Minoan language, linking the script with the culture of ancient Crete.
Other scholars disagreed and proposed competing theories about what language Linear B represented.
Suggested identifications included:
- A lost form of the Etruscan language.
- An early relative of the Basque language.
Despite the growing body of tablets and many attempts, experts were unable to reach a consensus or produce a secure decipherment for roughly five decades.
During this period, Linear B became a classic example of how difficult it is to interpret an unknown script with no bilingual texts or living speakers.

The writing remained mysterious for around 50 years, underscoring how complex the process of decipherment can be.
The eventual understanding of Linear B (beyond the scope of the short description) turned the tablets from mere collections of symbols into readable historical records.
This case highlights the intersection of archaeology and historical linguistics:
- Archaeologists recover physical evidence like tablets.
- Linguists and epigraphers analyze signs, patterns, and possible sound values.
The investigation into Linear B is now an important case study for:
- How scholars test competing hypotheses about unknown scripts.
- The kinds of mistakes that can come from assuming a specific language too early.
- The patience and rigor needed to decode ancient writing systems.

Linear B: The name Evans gave to the script impressed on the clay tablets he excavated; at first its language and meaning were unknown.
Decipherment: The scholarly effort to determine how a writing system works, including its sounds, words, grammar, and the language it records.
Minoan language (as assumed): The language Evans thought Linear B expressed, based on his interpretation of the culture that produced the tablets.

The TED-Ed lesson is deliberately brief, using animation, narration, and music to make the story of Linear B accessible to a broad audience.
It connects the mystery of Linear B to wider themes:
- Culture and the transmission of ideas across time.
- Education and the value of investigating unanswered questions.
- History and the reconstruction of the ancient world through written sources.
- Language, writing, and how scripts preserve knowledge long after speakers are gone.
The video belongs to TED-Ed Originals, which pair subject-matter educators with professional animators to create engaging lessons.

Investigate the detailed history of Linear B’s decipherment in the decades following Evans’s discoveries.
Compare Linear B with other scripts that remained undeciphered for long periods to see similarities in scholarly approaches and obstacles.
Read in-depth accounts of how experts finally decoded the script to understand practical methods used in breaking ancient writing systems.