Kafkania pebble
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The Kafkania pebble was found in Kafkania, some 7 km north of Olympia, in 1994. It bears a short inscription of eight syllabic signs in Linear B, possibly reading a-so-na / qo-ro-qa / qa-jo. On the reverse side, there is a double axe symbol. The inscription is not unambiguously identifiable as in the Mycenean language, but qo-ro-qa has been suggested to be a personal name with the well-known -oqos (-ωπς) suffix.
The inscription has been dated to ca. the 17th century BC from the archaeological context. This would make it the earliest written testimony on the Greek mainland, and the earliest document in Linear B.
Several specialists of Mycenaean epigraphy, however, have expressed serious doubts about the authenticity of the inscription, and it is quite possible that it is a modern forgery.
[edit] References
- X. Arapojanni, J. Rambach, and L. Godart, Kavkania: Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabung von 1994 auf dem Hügel von Agrilitses (2002).
