The mathematical values of Linear A fraction signs | Statistics - Science Daily

A recent study has shed new light on the Minoan system of fractions, one of the outstanding enigmas tied to the ancient writing of numbers. 

---

About 3,500 years ago, the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete developed a writing system composed of syllabic signs, called Linear A, which they sometimes used to inscribe offerings at sanctuaries and adorn their jewelry, but mainly assisted the administration of their palatial centers by Science Daily

On the left, the signs of the fractions in Linear A; on the right, one of the tablets analyzed.
Photo:  Elsevier

Today, this script remains largely undeciphered and includes a complex system of numerical notation with signs that indicated not only whole numbers, but also fractions (such as 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc.). While the whole numbers were deciphered decades ago, scholars have been debating on the exact mathematical values of the fractional signs.

Principal Investigator Silvia Ferrara, Professor of the Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies of the University of Bologna, said: "We aimed to solve the problem through a lens combining different strands of research, very seldom tied together: close paleographical analysis of the signs and computational methods. In this way we realized that we could access information from a new perspective."...

The results explain how the Linear B script, adopted by the later Mycenaean Greek culture (ca. 1450-1200 BCE) from Linear A, reused some of these fractions to express units of measurement. The new results suggest that, for example, the Linear A sign for 1/10 was adapted to represent a capacity unit for measuring dry products which was, in turn, 1/10 of a larger unit. This explains a historical continuity of use from fractions to units of measurements across two different cultures.
Read more...

Journal Reference:
Michele Corazza, Silvia Ferrara, Barbara Montecchi, Fabio Tamburini, Miguel Valério. The mathematical values of fraction signs in the Linear A script: A computational, statistical and typological approach. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2020; 105214
DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2020.105214

Source: Science Daily