Such signs as occur seem to show that
the documents in which they are found mainly related to matters
of business. The saffron-flower, various vessels, tripods, and
balances, probably for the weighing of precious metals, occur most
frequently among these determinatives.
At Knossos this form of linear writing, Dr. Evans's Class A, appears
to have had a comparatively short vogue. Documents belonging to it
are only found in the particular stratum which is connected with
Middle Minoan III., and are to be dated, according to Dr. Evans's
latest revision of the chronology, not later than 1600 B.C., the
period at which Middle Minoan III. closes. In the Late Minoan periods
which follow, the linear script of Class A is superseded at Knossos
by another form, Class B. In other parts of the island, however,
Class A seems to have survived as a general form of writing much
longer than at Knossos. At Hagia Triada the very large deposits of
linear writing--larger, indeed, than the representation of Class A at
Knossos--belong to the First Late Minoan period, and are contemporary
with the wonderful work of the steatite vases and the fresco of the
hunting-cat; while at Phaestos the final catastrophe of the palace
took place at a time when the linear writing of Class A was still in
full use. At Zakro, Palaikastro, Gournia, and elsewhere, examples
of this script have been found, showing that it was prevalent,
at all events, throughout Central and Eastern Crete; and in all
cases it is associated with remains which belong to the close of
Middle Minoan III.
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