Linear B Archives and the Mycenaean World

Linear B Archives and the Mycenaean WorldWhat contri stillion do the Linear B archives make to fellow feeling the Mycenaean world in respect of one of the following social organisation, cult practices, stock instruction and agriculture, warf argon, bronze working?The Linear B archives provide us with the earliest primary essay about Mycenaean palatial civilisations1 and an unpar each(prenominal)eled taste into the nature of Mycenaean warfargon. The archives consist of approximately five thousand clay records2 and contain information on armor, weapons, chariots, naval warf atomic number 18 and subsidiary en braggart(a) about possible troops. The importance of these documents is greatly enhanced by the complete lack of historical accounts3 from this era, and also the fact that nearly every(prenominal) of the ideograms utilize in the archives are devoted to armour, weaponry, horses and chariots4 means that they are of intrinsic value to the understanding of state of war in the Mycenaean world.However, there are limitations with the Linear B archives, particularly in terms of their chronological range, inventory tendency and perhaps bias representation of the importance of warfare under normal circumstances. It is also most-valuable to consider what other discoveries have made vital contri preciselyions to our understanding of Mycenaean warfare, such as the palaces themselves, surviving weapons and representations of war or armour in art.Since all of the tablets come from the palatial centres, one of their most important contributions is that they tell us directly about the economies of the palaces and that their main focus were military preparedness5, defensive strategies and the wealth to support these things. The Linear B archives record information about the production, refurbishment and also the distribution6 of many antithetic types of military equipment. It is possible to interpret from the archives, that the Mycenaeans riding habitd a very cent ralised system to gather and organise military equipment and that this was found around the main palatial complex. Evidence for this poop be influencen in a tablet from Pylos which lists sixteen different places that were responsible for supplying an amount of bronze in the form of heads for arrows and spears7. The tablets also directly disposition the extent that these palaces were concerned with having a fully equipped force8, this is mainly due to the sheer number of references to armour and weapons throughout the archives.The many tablets depicting armour are especially useful when trying to understand Mycenaean warfare. Tablets at Tiryns9, Pylos and Knossos all record suits of armour and provide us with march for the use of armour across a wider range of palatial centres than archaeological finds would suggest. At Pylos the tablets mention at least twenty suits of armour with the ideograms for a cuirass and a helmet, and at Dendra there are at least one light speed and f orty suits recorded in the chariot tablet10. The ideograms themselves are of great value because form them you can see the style and type of armour which is very similar to the suit which was discovered at Dendra and those described by Homer11.Not only do the archives provide evidence for the use of armour they also give us some indication of the value of the armour itself. In some tablets the ideogram for armour is replaced with one for a bronze ingot12, this could be interpreted as a representative of the value of the armour or perhaps as an approximate quantity of material used to make the armour itself.A further contribution made by the archives is the existence of an illustration on the reverse of a tablet. The drawing shows a man wearing greaves and drawing his sword, and was probably the work of a scribe while he was waiting to make his recordings13. This is particularly interesting as it allows us to see the influence that warfare may have had on a member of Mycenaean societ y who chose to sketch this scene and its shows the weapon and armour which was associated with a soldier.Weapons are an essential part of warfare and were a major resource recorded in the tablets. The importance of weapons to the Mycenaeans can be clearly seen in a tablet from Pylos which records a quantity of recycled bronze by the number of arrow or spearheads it would be able to make14. The tablets also kick down to our knowledge of which materials were being used to manufacture weapons, for example we can tell that most weapons were being made from bronze because articles of iron were never mentioned in the tablets15. The use of ideograms to depict weapons allows us to partly see how the weapons would be used thrusting spears, throwing javelins, slings and bows are all shown in the tablets16. The ideograms are also useful because it is possible to equality types of swords or daggers by looking at what is different amidst each separate ideogram.In the Linear B archives there ha ve been large numbers of tablets devoted to chariots or their trappings. Many of these regions have rough terrain so this is often seen as particularly surprising. single example is the region around Knossos, which was, and quiet is, especially mountainous and the only way to use a chariot would be to bring it to the beach or to the plains some distance away17. Records relating to chariots include a tablet from Pylos listing one hundred and fifty one chariot wheels18, and the Knossos tablets featuring several hundred chariots and spare parts19 along with individual inventories which record a name, chariot, horses and a suit of armour20.However, of particular interest in terms of chariots are a few texts from Knossos and Pylos. The first, from Knossos, records the distribution of defensive armour to each of the chariot crew21. The texts from Pylos, which were found in the Northeast Workshop, list leather items that relate to chariots, some examples are reigns, halters, bridals and saddlebags22. These groups of tablets provide us with information that not only supports the other Linear B evidence, but also archaeological finds as well.The archives have far more throttle information in terms of naval warfare. At Pylos there are some unclear references to over six hundred rowers23, and lists of coastal settlements24, when considered together, these could be interpreted as naval organisation or defensive preparations. A further important addition to our knowledge of naval warfare is the drawing found on the reverse of a tablet in Pylos, its shows an protrude of a ship. The image is not only comparable to an ideogram used on a tablet from Knossos, but it also resembles the ships used not by the Mycenaeans but the Minoans25. One could argue that there were possible overlaps in the style of ships used from the Minoan period into the Mycenaean era.The contributions made by Linear B are undeniable, but on the other hand it is also vital to consider the disadvantages that these archives have. The records themselves were not intended to be long lasting26 as they were only preserved by chance. They are in a way comparable to the modern post-it note a disposable, cheap and transportable way of recording data. The survival of the tablets is also in all random27, which means that we are often left with fragmented topics and it impossible to tell how complete the archives we have are. The archives are also only based on a certain group of palatial centres and so there is a possibility that there were some differences existing between these and others28. Thus kernel that using the archives to get a picture of the entire Mycenaean world is not reliable.A further problem with the tablets is the possibility that there are inaccurate. For example, those found in the Room of the Chariot tablets, have been interpreted, by some, to be scribal exercises and not genuine records, the reason for this interpretation is that they were all written by different ha nds in the same characteristic style29. If this was the case and then much of our evidence for chariots would no longer be valid and the argument for their use in mountainous areas would be far weaker.The archives also have huge chronological limitations in terms of their range as they are either limited to the last year or so in the first place the destruction of the palaces, or they are random undated years30. The maximum range of the archives has been dated to between fourteen hundred and twelve hundred BC, and each of the documents only refers to the current year31. This makes it extremely exhausting to ascertain information regarding trends or patterns across the whole of the Mycenaean era.It is also important to take into consideration that these records represent what can only be seen as a period of unrest for the Mycenaean civilisations. The year in the beginning the destruction of the palaces would have probably been far more militaristic than ordinary day to day life. I n the tablets we see examples of special provisions made for this duration of warfare, one such example was Bronze smiths being excused from having to pay tax because they were so busy making weapons32. The tablets from Pylos include records of contributions of gold33 and specific weights of bronze34 from local officials it could be possible that this was to finance the war effort. These records may then be giving us unbalanced view of the priorities of the Mycenaeans, and that perhaps under less pressing times there is a much smaller focus on warfare.Since the Linear archives are almost entirely made up of inventories35, it is exceptionally difficult to understand either how objects were used or the nature of warfare itself in the Mycenaean world. This is particularly important when you consider that none of the documents record the existence of an substantial army36.It seems evident that although the archives provide us with a great amount of information, they do have their li mitations. In order to fully understand Mycenaean warfare it is also necessary to consider the archaeological evidence that we have available. For example, the palaces themselves show evidence of a need for strong defences. The building works which took place before their destruction are a clear indication of preparation for sieges and attacks in particular the introduction of water supplies37 that would allow those inside the walls to survive, even under a long term siege.Furthermore the contributions in terms weaponry from the archives are much more valuable to us when we use it alongside echt surviving weapons and armour. One of the most important discoveries was the Dendra armour, a full bronze corslet and neckpiece38 which is made from a number of individual sheets of bronze39. Armours of this type were recorded in tablets at both Knossos and Pylos40 and the armour type can be clearly recognised by the ideograms themselves. We can also use comparisons between archaeological ev idence and the tablets to trace different types of sword, and by doing so it is possible to see some possible changes in military practices41.Since the archives consist mostly of inventories it is useful to see these items as represented by the Mycenaeans, in particular through art, which gives us the opportunity to see depictions of chariots, weapons and armour in use. One such example of this is the fluent Siege Ryhton from Shaft Grave four, which depicts an attack on a walled settlement42. What is particularly interesting is that this is a seaborne attack and so could link to the tablets listing coastal settlements from Pylos it also shows an archer43 which supports information on weaponry.Another vessel which provides useful information is the Warrior Vase from Mycenae, this shows six men marching on each side of the vase. The men all wear white spotted, horned helmets, and carry spears and shields. They wear greaves, short fringed skirts and corslets44. The theme of marching s oldiers is also seen on the Painted Grave Stelae from Mycenae45. It is possible then to get some idea of how the equipment of a soldier would be put together and to see that warfare had a big influence on Mycenaean art.The use of boars tusk helmets is far more emphasised through art than in the archives, for example in the fresco from Akrotiri which is dated to approximately sixteen hundred BC46, and on a carved ivory relief from the house north of the Oil Merchants which shows a Mycenaean warrior wearing a boars tusk helmet. These examples are significant because they represent the need to consider the Linear B tablets as just one part of the picture, and not as a sole contributor to our understanding of Mycenaean warfare.1 Cline 20103572 Cline 20103583 Wardle 1997454 Cline 20103675 Cline 20103676 Cline 20103677 Rawlings 2007218 Wardle 1997639 Lodewijckx 199648310 Wardle 19976411 King 197029612 Wardle 19976413 Wardle 19977314 Cline 201036715 Chadwick 195811616 Rawlings 20072317 Lod ewijckx 199649318 Cline 201036719 Rawlings 20072120 Wardle 19977121 Drews 199311122 Lodewijckx 199648323 Wardle 19977324 Wachsmann 199812425 Wachsmann 199812526 Cline 201035827 Wardle 19974728 Wachsmann 199812329 Chadwick 197616930 Cline 201035831 Edwards 1973610-1132 Chadwick 195812333 Wardle 19973934 Wardle 19974535 Rawlings 20072236 Chadwick 197615937 Wardle 19977338 Hood 1960939 Hood 19601040 Wardle 19976441 Wardle 19976342 Rawlings 20072343 Tartaron 20136444 Suter 20088245 Suter 20088346 DAmato 201341