What is Linear A?
[[File:0726 La Canée musée linéaire A.JPG|thumb|right|300px|Close-up of a tablet containing writing in Linear A]] [[File:Linear A tablets filt.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Tablets with Linear A found on the island of [[Thera]]]] [[File:Linear_A_cup.png|thumb|Linear A as it was found on a cup]] '''Linear A''' is an ancient [[writing system|script]] used on [[Crete]]. No one has been able to [[translate]] this script yet. It was one of the writing systems used in [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] Crete. Another script, about a century older, is called [[Cretan hieroglyphs]]. For some time, both methods of writing were used. Probably, each system was used for a special purpose. Linear A was used from about the 17th century [[BC]] until the 15th century BC. [[Linear B]] is a script based on Linear A. It has been translated. [[Archaeology|Archaeologist]] [[Arthur Evans]] found both Linear A and B. Linear A has about fifty signs that are similar to those in Linear B. About 80% of the signs in Linear A are unique.<ref name=younger/><ref name=Packard>Packard, David W. 1974. ''Minoan Linear A''. [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]]: University of California Press, chapter one: introduction. {{ISBN|0-520-02580-6}}</ref> Using the [[knowledge]] from Linear B to read Linear A produces text which cannot be read. The language used has been called ''[[Eteocretan]]''. It does not seem to be related to any known language. Today, about 70 characters (probably representing [[syllable]]s) are known. The meaning of about 100 [[ideogram|ideographic]] characters is known. These are combined with the syllables. Also, there are a few [[numeral]]s whose value is known. Most texts seem to be lists. A few are probably short [[dedication]]s, as they are found on [[libation]]s. So far, no long texts have been found. Straight lines, such as those used for Linear A, are not very practical to use on [[clay]] tables. For this reasons, most writing was probably done on other things, such as [[papyrus]] or [[parchment]]. The problem with these materials is