Linear B tablet

Linear B tablet, about 1375 BC, burnt clay

This tablet records women workers along with ‘girls’ and ‘boys’ (probably their children), about 1375BC. This and other similar examples have survived through being burnt, probably as a result of a fire. The content of clay tablets like this are exclusively about bureaucracy and book keeping, but they give a voice to people living and working at the time. Around 100 scribes at Knossos were responsible for writing the surviving just over 4,000 documents. Their content deals is about political organisation, economic administration, workers and specialised craftsmen, land tenure and agricultural production, ceremonial practices, arms and armour.

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