This chapter explains the process by which the Linear B writing system was deciphered and shown to record a form of the Greek language, discussing the contributions of Emmett L Bennett, Alice E. Kober, Michael Ventris, and John Chadwick.

More than 60 years after Michael Ventris’ decipherment of Linear B, 14 of its syllabic signs remain ‘undeciphered’: despite many proposals to assign sound-values to these signs, none has yet been officially accepted. This paper is based on part of a study investigating new approaches to these undeciphered signs: as signs which cannot yet be read…[Read more]

This article re-examines the evidence for the value of the Linear B sign pu2, in particular its appearance in the term da-pu2-ri-to-
‘labyrinth’, and demonstrates that it stands specifically for the value /phu/ (contrary to the usual assumption that it represents
both /phu/ and /bu/). It then discusses the further implications of this con…[Read more]

This is the accepted version of the paper; the published version is available at doi.org/10.1075/wll.00025.jud (or by contacting me).

This paper investigates the issue of orthographic variation in the Linear B writing system in order to explore ways in which studying a writing system’s orthographic conventions may shed light on the history of i…[Read more]

Das vandalische Afrika gilt als Musterbeispiel des „Kirchenkampfs“ zwischen
homöischen Barbaren und katholischen Römern. Kronzeugen sind Victor von Vita,
Fulgentius von Ruspe und Quodvultdeus von Karthago. Etwa 50 Jahre nach dem Ende
der Vandalenkönige inAfrika 533 kam es dagegen in Spanien zum Ausgleich zwischen
Katholiken und Homöer…[Read more]

Ringe in Kulturgeschichte und Erzählforschung, in: Ringe der Macht, hrsg. von Harald Meller u.a. (= Tagungen des Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle 21), Halle 2019, S. 163-176

Rings in cultural history and narrative research.

Stories about vanished rings, whether found again in the
belly of a fish or – as at Merseburg – pilfered by the r…[Read more]

The essay discusses the last witch execution in Baden-Württemberg, where on 24 April 1751 Anna Schnidenwind, born Trutt, died at the stake in Endingen, because she is said to have caused the devastating fire in the village of Wyhl on 7 March 1751.