Linear B tablet, known as the “Tripod tablet ”. Palace of Ano Englianos (Pylos), inv. no. Ta 709-712. Gallery 4. The so-called ‘Tripod tablet’ was named after the tripod ideogram, which appears repeatedly in the text. The identification of the word ti-ri-po (tripous) with the tripod ideogram confirmed the veracity of the Mycenaean Greek decipherment.
The clay tablets come in two shapes. The larger ones are rectangular and the smaller ones are elongated and leaf-shaped. Some tablets are inscribed on both sides and there are groups of tablets referring to the same subject. The tablets were stored in the palace archives, arranged by subject inside baskets, which were marked with clay labels bearing brief information on each basket’s contents. The text was inscribed on a damp clay tablet using a sharp bone or metal stylus. Then the tablet was left to dry in the sun. When the Mycenaean palaces were destroyed by fire in approximately 1200 BC, these clay archives were baked and so preserved until today.