So this turned out to be pretty interesting. Writings are found on Crete in 1900 - and absolutely no one can figure out how to decipher them. No Rosetta Stone-type device emerges. Not much to go on. 3,400 year old stuff. How does it relate to classical Greece (which came along later)?The finder (Arthur Evans) was a celebrated archaeologist who didn't have much linguistic experience (if that's the right term), and didn't bother to get very systematic. But as finder, he had first shot. And didn't go out of his way to make materials accessible to others.
The author focuses on a second researcher - an American named Alice Kober - her role appears to have been under-appreciated. While she didn't solve the puzzle, her contributions were critical.
The solver-of-the-puzzle was a brilliant amateur - Michael Ventris. Everyone suspected that the writings primarily were administrative stuff - lists, receipts, tax administration - but unfortunately pretty much nothing else was found. So while it was neat to solve "Linear B", it isn't clear that all that much was gained.
Kober working in post-WWII austerity conditions as she visits England. She creates cigarette boxes full of what amount to punch cards in an effort to find patterns.
How different it would have been to pursue this analysis with present-day communications and compute power.
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