Ferrara Silvia. Cypro-Minoan Inscriptions. Volume I: Analysis

New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. — XIV, 326 p. — ISBN: 978-0-19-960757-0.Contents: Illustrations. Tables. Charts. Abbreviations. Introduction: Part I: Function, Object, and Context: Literacy in Late Bronze Age Cyprus: Introducing Writing on Cyprus. The History of Scholarship. Broadening the Picture: a Comprehensive Analysis. Geographical Distribution. Political Geography. Writing as Part of the Material Record. The Functions of the Inscribed Objects. Script as Ideological Symbol. Cypro-Minoan as ex novo Creation. The Archaeological Setting: Writing in the LCI–LCIII Periods: Framing the Script in Time and Place. Distribution: Diachronic and Synchronic Perspectives. The MCIII–LCI Period. The Beginning of the LCII Period. The LCIIC Period. The Script in the LCIIC Period. The LCIIC–LCIIIA Transition. Writing in LCIIIA: The Cypro-Minoan Floruit: The Clay Boules. The Geographical and Typological Diffusion of Writing in LCIIIA. The Cypro-Minoan Script at Ugarit. A Multi-Purpose Script. Part II: Inscription and Signary: The Epigraphic Presentation of the Inscriptions: Macro-Level Analysis: Problems of Classification. Typologies of Objects: Medium Variety. Techniques of Epigraphic Writing. Styles on Clay: Intra-Medium Variety. Manufacturing and Inscribing Tablets. Epigraphic and Sematographic Instability. Macro-Level Analysis: Cypriot Scribal Traditions. The Palaeography of the Cypro-Minoan Script: The Signary. The Size of the Sign Repertoire. The Analysis of Sign Variations. A Critique of Linguistic Analyses. Cypro-Minoan as One Script. Part III: Beyond Decipherment: Cypro-Minoan and its Context: Contextualizing the History of Cypro-Minoan. Contextualizing the Archaeology of Cypro-Minoan. Problems of Palaeography. Problems of Palaeographical Classification: the Role of Epigraphy. The Future of Cypro-Minoan. Appendices 1–8. References. Index.