Imagine there's a clay tablet in front of you. It's 5,000 years old and covered with grooves and notches that look rather like something between hieroglyphics and cuneiform. You turn the tablet this way and that, studying the shapes. Suddenly, you get an inspiration. That symbol there! It might mean "property," and the symbols that come after it might be part of a list! You relay your theory to the rest of the group.
Now imagine that you don't have to imagine that scene. In one of the greatest uses of modern technology, the oldest undeciphered piece of writing has been photographed from every possible angle by a machine called the Reflectance Transformation Imaging System, and the resulting images will be posted online so that whosoever cares to can be part of the code-breaking team!: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19964786
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