Kafkania pebble

The Kafkania pebble is a pebble, small in size, and round in shape, found on 1 April 1994, near a river in Kafkania, north of Olympia. The pebble contains some Mycenaean Greek words, including a image of a labrys. The text and image on the pebble is suggested to have come from the 17th century BC. If the pebble is truly a ancient artifact, it would have been the earliest writing to come from Greece, and by far the earliest document written in Mycenaean Greek. However, it is most likely a modern-day hoax.

 Inscription  
There is an short inscription consisting of three words written on the pebble, probably reading as:

On the other side of the pebble, there is a image of a labrys.

Some believe that the inscription is written in Mycenaean Greek, but it is disputed.

G. Owens suggested that the inscription is written in Minoan, rather than Mycenaean Greek. Then, a Minoan could have written the text for a Mycenaean. No evidence exists that the Mycenaeans wrote text before the 14th century BC.

Category:History of Greece