Linear script symbols arranged in groups of two or more. Whilst excavating Knossos, the British archaeologist Arthur Evans (1851-1941) found three forms of writing which he defined as Minoan: Hieroglyphic (pictograms), Linear A and Linear B. Complex words of three or more symbols appear in both Linear A and Linear B. With pictograms, a sign stood for each word, requiring as many signs as there were words. The development of signs to represent syllables overcame this problem and represented a major advance. Table from The Story of the Alphabet (Edward Clodd, 1900).