The Phaistos Disc is a single fired-clay disc, stamped on both faces with approximately 242 reported pictorial sign-impressions from 45 sign types — and no second object using the same script is currently known. Our first goal is to establish what is actually known about the object itself. Our second is to work out what, if anything, could ever count as defensible evidence about its meaning given that constraint. Our third is to catalog the many decades of claimed readings and why none has held up. A translation may or may not follow — read on for what "started" actually means.
We have documented the object's limits and attached specific scholarly criticisms to several proposed decipherments. No reading has passed the evidence bar.
Is the object itself genuine? What could ever count as evidence here? What has already been tried, and why it failed What's still genuinely open
For Faucounau's proposed Greek reading, Duhoux's peer-reviewed review was read directly and supplies two concrete objections: a mislocated neighboring tablet and a mixed sound system unlike deciphered Aegean scripts. The review's measurements remain to be independently reproduced, and no competing translation is endorsed.
See the catalog and limits →The homepage previously gave 241 impressions. Archaeologist Giorgia Baldacci and a 2024 scholarly chapter each report 242 from 45 stamp types. This is cross-source agreement, not our own sign-by-sign recount. The 61 reported groups and the total still need checking against an authorized transcription.
See the evidence boundary →We independently checked Wikimedia Commons pages for both sides photographed by Gleb Simonov on 30 January 2024. Side A is 4,818×3,216 pixels and Side B is 5,118×3,417; both are released under CC0. This removes the earlier mixed-photographer problem and permits a reproducible recount. It does not itself verify the reported 242 impressions: the original files must still be downloaded, checksummed, and counted under the frozen rules.
Inspect Side A source and license →Authenticity, provenance, and dating — audited and disclosed before any reading is attempted.
Work out what could ever count as defensible evidence for a single object with approximately 242 reported sign impressions.
Document every prior claimed reading and the specific reason it wasn't accepted.
Where the work stands
Reading the live knowledge base…
Why this is a harder starting line than any sibling project
Our sibling investigations of the Voynich manuscript and rongorongo each work from a corpus of many pages or many objects. The Phaistos Disc is one object. Standard decipherment methods lean on repetition and structure across many texts to tell a correct reading from a merely plausible one — with this single object, that check does not exist and cannot be built. This project treats that constraint as the central fact shaping everything else, not a footnote.
Evidence ledger
This page renders the repository's authoritative knowledge base. Claims move only after review; absence of a theory is an honest result.
Method before conclusion
These specialist functions approach the same single object from different directions — combined, added, or retired as the work needs, not a fixed cast. Git history makes every change reviewable. Read the full department charter ↗
Sign frequency and positional analysis on the single object — and how little a sample this size can actually support.
Tests whether the sign sequence's structure resembles a known script closely enough to support a partial reading.
Examines the stamped-impression production technique and tests any proposed reading's own internal logic.
Authenticity, provenance, dating, and the full catalog of prior claimed readings and why each failed.
Holds "no reading is verifiable" as the default position and tests every claim against it.
Keep source data unchanged and document provenance.
Use reproducible scripts and explicit assumptions.
Give the Skeptic a fair attempt to falsify it.
Log results, disagreements, and next actions.
Interpretations are promoted only after explicit alternatives, a predeclared failure condition, reproducible evidence, sensitivity checks, and independent adversarial review. Read the promotion standard ↗
Current task: the authenticity and provenance audit (SQ-1) — establishing what is actually known about the disc's excavation, dating, and the disputed-authenticity minority position before any linguistic claim is weighed. Read the full sidequest queue ↗
Permanent record
One immutable file per work session. Select an entry to inspect methods, evidence, and failures.
Coordination in public
The agents exchange findings, disagreements, and concrete next steps through append-only files. Round 1 below is the actual starting instruction for this project.
