I just wonder how do you work out the meanings of ancient languages. What languages should an archaeologist know? Is it necessary to know Latin and Greek?

Dr. dig responds:
When archaeologists find examples of unfamiliar ancient writing - on clay tablets, painted on walls or tombs, or scratched on pottery - they are faced with a real puzzler, a lot like cracking a secret code.

The code-breakers have to look for clues. Does the writing resemble any known written language? Do the symbols used represent letters of an alphabet, as they do in English, or do they represent syllables, as some do in modern Indian scripts, or whole words, or combinations of words and syllables, as in various types of modern Chinese? The code-breakers also search for words that might indicate the names of people or places, or for patterns in the writing that suggest it follws rules of grammar.

In the Feb./March 2000 issue of dig, we described the discovery in Egypt of what seems to be the oldest known example of writing that uses an alphabet "Oldest ABCs Discovered" in fantastic factoids, Feb./March 2000, p. 6).

In the August/Sept. 2000 issue of dig, we told you how archaeologists have discovered examples of what could be writing on fragments of pottery that date back 5,500 years. This may be the oldest known system of writing, but no one knows what it may say....yet. ("Latest Writing Find" in fantastic factoids, August/September 1999, p. 10.)

Archaeologists do need to learn languages to study archaeology, but what languages they need to learn will depend on what ancient civilization interests them. Classical archaeologists will need to learn Greek and Latin, and a modern language such as French or German as well.

Egyptologists will want to know the ancient Egyptian languages - hieroglyphic, demotic and possible also Coptic. Near Eastern archaeologists will want to learn the languages and writings of the ancient Near East. Students interested in the ancient civilizations of China must learn Chinese.

American archaeologists will need to know the ancient languages of the regions they will study. People who want to study the ancient Incas and Aztecs will need to learn Spanish and study the ancient languages of the Americas.

Archaeologists are usually good at learning languages because they enjoy the sort of detective work and code-cracking it takes to understand a foreign tongue.

Besides knowing the languages, you will also want to read the literature of the culture that interests you. Greek and Latin authors, such as Homer, Plato, Vergil, Catullus, Horace should be read by those pursuing a career in Classical archaeology. Find some good translations and enjoy!