Around 1625 BC, the Cretan Hieroglyphic script was replaced by the more evolved Linear A script, which was mainly syllabic but included some ideograms.
The meaning of its ideograms and the sound values of its signs can be suggested by comparing them with similar symbols in the later Linear B script, but as Linear A is written in an unknown (probably Semitic or Anatolian) language it cannot actually be understood.
Unlike Linear B its system of measurement included fractions. Most of the clay tablets found, of which the largest collection comes from Hagia Triada, seem to have recorded accounts or taxes. Such tablets are found throughout Crete and also on some of the islands, notable Thera.
Labels were often inscribed on portable objects: for instance a large jar from Zakro bears the sign for wine. Religious objects, such as offering tables, also bear occasional inscriptions. Linear A continued in use until the collapse of Minoan civilization around 1450 BC.
