ArtFire

The two parts of this pendant depict two different ancient scripts, both of which are so far undeciphered. The text on the bronze piece is Linear A; the domed copper piece on the front is an example of Etruscan. They are separated by a tube bail and hung on two 1.5 mm leather cords. The pendant is 1 1/4" in diameter, and the cord measures 17 1/2" including the handmade s-clasp.

Linear A is the script for the unknown Minoan language, and dates from 1900-1800 BC. Arthur Evans, a British archaeologist, discovered clay tablets inscribed with two different scripts at Knossos in Crete in 1900. The other script, Linear B, which dates from approximately 1450 BC, was deciphered in 1952, and is known to have been used for an early form of Greek. The two scripts share some symbols, but using the corresponding sounds for Linear A does not produce any known language.

The Etruscan alphabet, which originated in what is now northern Italy around 700 BC, was derived from a form of the ancient Greek alphabet and eventually developed through Latin into the English alphabet we use today. Despite the fact that Etruscan can be "read" since the alphabet and pronunciations are known, only a few hundred words can be understood. Most of the surviving examples are in the form of inscriptions, such as tombstones, and consist largely of names of people and places.

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As I reached the pictures in the "New Scientist" article I knew I had stumbled on what I had been looking for. Bronze has a feeling of antiquity about it that seems suited to fragments of text, and I wanted to incorporate script into the pieces I was making, but in all the texts I was looking at the meaning had to be considered. Here were "Eight Scripts That Still Can't Be Read", and they were both enormously varied and visually intriguing. From the organic feel of Linear A to the impossible precision of Rongo-rongo, from the almost familiar pictures of Olmec, Proto-Elamite, and the Phaistos Disc to the abstract lines and squiggles of Meroitic, all were visually and intellectually engaging in a different way than known text could be. They say something, but they are more cultural artifact than simple text. Even if one turns out to be a warehouse inventory I won't be disappointed because their meaning goes beyond their translation. So here is my "Undeciphered Texts" collection.

bronze, copper, leather