[12] Integers can be read and the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are quite straightforward, similarly to Roman numerals.

[14][15][16][17] In 2021 Corazza et al. proposed the following values, most of which had been previously suggested:[18] Other fractions are composed by addition: the common JE and DD are 3⁄4 and 1⁄3 (2⁄6), BB = 2⁄5, EF = 3⁄8, etc.

Linear A has been written on various media, such as stone offering tables and vessels, gold and silver hairpins, roundels, and ceramics.

[19][20] The earliest inscriptions of Linear A come from Phaistos, in a layer dated at the end of the Middle Minoan II period: that is, no later than c. 1700 BC.

[21][22] Linear A texts have been found throughout the island of Crete and also on some Aegean islands (Kythera, Kea, Thera, Melos), in mainland Greece (Ayos Stephanos), on the west coast of Asia Minor (Miletus, Troy), and in the Levant (Tel Haror, Tel Lachish).

[23][24][25] The first comprehensive compendium of Linear A inscriptions (sometimes referred to as GORILA) was produced by Louis Godart and Jean-Pierre Olivier in multiple columns between 1976 and 1985.

[31] In 2020 a project was begun, called SigLA, to put all the known Linear A inscriptions online at a single site.

[32] Essentially all Linear A tablets, most in a fragmentary condition, have been found on the island of Crete, dated to the Neopalatial Period.

At that time Crete was divided by mountains and other geographic features into a number of polities, each with its own urban center.

[40] The handful of known Cretan Hieroglyphs tablets (with relatively few signs) were also found on Crete at Malia and Kato Symi.

Large numbers of sealings have been found, primarily on Crete and in the Late Minoan IB period.

The primary sources of sealed documents come from Haghia Triada (1103), Zakros (560), Khania (210), Knossos (125), Phaistos (35), Malia (6), and Tylissos (5).

[45] Sealed documents are divided by archaeologists into four classes:[35] A group of Minoan finds, usually from sanctuaries, have traditionally been called libation tables.

[56][57] A similar construct in Cretan Hieroglyphs, the "Archanes Formula", is the main proposed link to Linear A.

[67] A silver hair pin and a gold ring, both with fairly long Linear A inscriptions, were found at Mavro Spelio in Knossos.

[71] A Minoan graffito found at Tel Haror on a vessel fragment is either Linear A or Cretan hieroglyphs.

[75] The earliest attestation of Linear A begins around 1800 BC (Middle Minoan IB) during the Protopalatial period.

However, researchers are reasonably confident in the approximate sound values of most syllabic signs and are able to make inferences about the meanings of some texts.

As a result, researchers are stuck with limited sample sizes, making it difficult to reliably detect patterns.

Rather than complete sentences, many are lists where each entry consists of a toponym or personal name followed by a logogram and then a numeral.

These sound values are widely accepted by current researchers, though they are not considered incontrovertible and many details remain up for debate.

Although this principle is not reliable across the board, there are a number of strong reasons why scholars have concluded that it does generally hold in Linear A.

[82] A second reason is that the resulting Linear A sound values provide readings of words which match what contextual analysis would lead us to expect.

[5] Based on regularities in the Linear A Libation Formulas, it has been argued that its word order was Verb Subject Object.