The Decipherment of Linear B

The decipherment of Linear B was a breakthrough in understanding ancient Greek civilization. Linear B is an ancient script used by the Mycenaeans around 1450–1200 BCE. It was previously unreadable, limiting knowledge of that era. In the early 1950s, scholar Michael Ventris analyzed the script and found patterns that matched early Greek language structures. By recognizing signs as syllables and comparing them to known Greek words, he demonstrated Linear B represented an early form of Greek. This discovery revealed that the Mycenaeans spoke an ancestor of Greek, unlocking valuable insights into early Greek culture and history.