A Linear A offspring or a multi-source creation? Some remarks on the origin of the Phaistos disk and the Arkalochori axe

The study presented here is part of a wider research project, whose main goal is to investigate how writing came about in different parts of the world and how new scripts were invented at very early stages of literacy, including those whose languages are still unknown. In this regard, the undeciphered inscriptions on the Phaistos disk and Arkalochori axe, and their relationship with other contemporaneous scripts, namely Egyptian, Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A, occupy a special place. The present paper thus focuses on the origin of the graphic repertoire of the Phaistos Disk and Arkalochori axe in order to reassess its connection to other Cretan and Egyptian scripts. Despite the similarity between some signs incised on the Arkalochori axe and some stamped on the Phaistos disk, it is still a matter of dispute if these inscriptions belong to the same writing system or not, and even if they are writing at all. In this paper the two artefacts are assessed in their chronological and cultural settings, and arguments in favour of their interpretation as true inscriptions are collected. Finally, the signs are analysed in order to quantify how many can be really traced back to Linear A and how many can be instead compared to other earlier and contemporaneous scripts and iconographic motives.