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THE VENTRIS-CHADWICK CORRESPONDENCE AND THE DECIPHERMENT OF LINEAR B: A DENIER, A DISSENTER AND A DUBIOUS CONCLUSION

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Thompson, Rupert 

Abstract

The correspondence between Michael Ventris and John Chadwick, housed in the Mycenaean Epigraphy Room in the Faculty of Classics, Cambridge, provides valuable insights into the decipherment of Linear B and the collaboration between the two men which produced first ‘Evidence for Greek dialect in the Mycenaean archives’ (Ventris and Chadwick 1953) and then Documents in Mycenaean Greek (Ventris and Chadwick 1956). The letters also reveal interesting information about the relationship between Ventris and Chadwick and other scholars of the day. This paper examines their relationship with Arthur Beattie, who never accepted the decipherment, and Leonard R. Palmer, who disagreed fundamentally with many of their interpretations of the texts. A file of correspondence containing letters from 1956, discovered only after the publication of Andrew Robinson’s biography of Ventris (Robinson 2002) casts doubt on the conclusion that, perhaps in part owing to difficulties with Palmer, Ventris had lost interest in Linear B immediately before his death.

Description

Keywords

43 History, Heritage and Archaeology, 47 Language, Communication and Culture, 4303 Historical Studies, 4705 Literary Studies

Journal Title

Cambridge Classical Journal

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1750-2705
2047-993X

Volume Title

65

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Rights

All rights reserved