Project at HIAS

Digit-LA. Exploring digital approaches to studying Linear A (LA) inscriptions of Bronze Age ‘Minoan’ Crete

The story, as well as history, of Linear A may not be straightforwardly ‘linear’ to many a reader. A Bronze Age Aegean script (ca. 1800-1450 BCE), Linear A remains undeciphered, encoding the poorly understood ‘Minoan’ language indigenous to Crete and unrelated to any known linguistic family. In collaboration with the Hamburg Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Digit-LA aims to explore innovative digital techniques, approaches and methodologies suitable for application to the Linear A script and the range of inscribed objects on which it is attested (e.g. clay tablets, clay vessels, stone vessels, metal objects of various types). Only through careful consideration of the contexts in which Linear A was used, alongside the typology and purpose of the inscribed objects, can a holistic understanding be achieved: one that recognises inscriptions as ‘living’ and ‘lived’ artefacts, possessing agency alongside historical, textual and linguistic significance. Digit-LA integrates modern digital techniques and methodologies at the forefront of research across diverse (not always cognate) disciplinary fields with traditional approaches to the study of ancient inscriptions. In doing so, it offers a new perspective on the study of Linear A inscribed objects by proposing to incorporate an innovative text-external approach to existing text-internal analysis of the Linear A corpus.

Her Tandem Partner is Christof Berns, Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Hamburg.

Biography

Before moving to HIAS, Ester was an AIAS-AUFF Fellow at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (University of Aarhus). Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the ERC INSCRIBE Project (University of Bologna), and a Junior Research Fellow at St John’s College (University of Cambridge), while also holding the position as Invited Lecturer at the Faculty of Classics (Cambridge). She has published two books with Cambridge University Press: ‘Aegean Linear Script(s): Rethinking the Relationship between Linear A and Linear B’ (2020), and ‘Writing in Bronze Age Crete: Minoan Linear A’ (2025).
 
A Classicist by training, Ester Salgarella specialises in Bronze Age Aegean Studies (2nd millennium BCE) with a focus on epigraphy, linguistics and archaeology. Her research centres on Bronze Age Aegean scripts (esp. ‘Minoan’ Linear A and Cretan Hieroglyphic, and ‘Mycenaean’ Linear B), considered within their archaeological and socio-historical contexts. By adopting a holistic approach, she examines inscriptions as both text-bearing artefacts of linguistics and historical significance, and as integral components of the contemporary material culture production. In addition to traditional, discipline-specific approaches, her work incorporates innovative, cutting-edge digital techniques and methodologies drawn from the rapidly expanding field of Digital Humanities.

Ester Salgarella’s HIAS Fellowship is provided by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the federal and state funds acquired by the University of Hamburg in the framework of its Excellence Strategy.