At 08:04 -0500 2001-11-10, Peter T. Daniels wrote:

>Michael Everson wrote:
>>
>> At 15:34 +0900 2001-11-10, Berthold Frommann wrote:
>> >Hello,
>> >
>> >> Linear B is a syllabary, apparently unrelated to anything else
>> >> around, even Egyptian.
>> >And how about the Vinca-characters?
>> >(cf. Rudolf Hartmann, "Universalgeschichte der Schrift")
>>
>> Harald Haarmann, I think you mean.
>>
>> Yes, the Vinc^a characters may be related to Linear B and Cypriot.
>> Years ago when I was at UCLA I worked a fair bit with Marija
>> Gimbutas, who took an interest in the Vinc^a writing.
>
>And she never claims they're "writing."

Yes, she does, following the work of Shan M. M. Winn (_Pre-Writing in
Southeast Europe: The Sign System of the Vinca Culture_, 1981). In
her 1974 _Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe_ she referred to Winn's
1973 dissertation which had not yet been published. The posthumous
1999 _The Living Goddesses_ definitely calls it writing, in an
extended essay. Basically it says there are at least 100 symbols,
they are linear and not pictorial in design, 100 symbols suggests a
syllabary, and we don't have anything like a Rosetta Stone.

I haven't seen Winn's work for years and years (I was Marija's
research assistant for while), and I wasn't a writing systems fanatic
at that time, so I can't tell you what quality it was. Marija was a
fine and careful scholar, and from what I *have* seen I certainly
would think that a relation between Linear B and the Vinca and
Tartaria materials is at least plausible. There is an issue of
time-depth to be reckoned with, and it would be nicer to have a
fuller archaeological record, but I don't think it would be prudent
to dismiss the possibility that the materials from Vinca, Tisza,
Karanovo, Gradesnica, Dimini, Cucuteni, etc. do not evince an Old
European script.
--
Michael Everson *** Everson Typography *** http://www.evertype.com
15 Port Chaeimhghein Íochtarach; Baile Átha Cliath 2; Éire/Ireland
Telephone +353 86 807 9169 *** Fax +353 1 478 2597 (by arrangement)