Post-doc Research Project

Linear B Deposits of the West Magazines at Knossos

Postdoctoral Fellowship: PDR F.R.S-FNRS (01/07/2021-30/06/2025).

My research addresses one of the most persisting historical problems of the Late Bronze Age Aegean, that of the nature, chronology and value of the Linear B tablets at Knossos, variously dated in the period between 1400 and 1200 BCE. Following a tried and tested interdisciplinary method combining several distinct but complementary approaches – archaeological, pinacological and epigraphical, paleographical, textual and linguistic – the project focuses on some of the largest collections of Linear B tablets found within the Knossos palace, those of the West Magazines (WM).

The deposits found there by their excavator, Arthur Evans, in 1900 particularly stand out because of their broad spatial distribution throughout many areas of the West Wing in contrast to deposits found concentrated, but also because of the variety of topics dealt with by the tablets. This project aims at characterizing the nature of these WM deposits and replace them in a coherent explanatory framework, opening up the investigation of a series of interlinked research questions. Ultimately, addressing these issues will contribute to highlight the diachronic evolution of the functioning of the Knossian administration during the mature Late Bronze Age and, on a larger scale, elucidate various aspects of the socioeconomic life in the Mycenaean kingdom of Knossos.

Supervisor : Dr. Prof. Jan Driessen (UCLouvain, AegIS).

Education

• 2020 – PhD History, History of Art and Archaeology (UCLouvain) The Northern Entrance Passage at Knossos: Interdisciplinary Approach to the study of a Linear B Deposit (Supervisor: Prof. Jan Driessen)

• 2014 – A.E.S.S., Classical languages and literature (UCLouvain).

• 2013 – Master, Archaeology and History of Art (UCLouvain)

• 2012 – Master, Classical Philology (UCLouvain).

Choice of publications/conferences (5 max.)