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Why were Linear B tablets from Knossos, Pylos, and Mycenae preserved?

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Neo-Assyrian clay tablet from the 7th century BC inscribed with dense cuneiform writing, known as the Flood Tablet from the Epic of Gilgamesh, displayed in the British Museum. — epigraphy The Flood Tablet, 11th cuneiform tablet in a series relating the Gilgamesh epic, from Nineveh, 7th century bce; in the British Museum, London.

The Linear B tablets from Knossos, Pylos, and Mycenae were preserved primarily due to an accidental process of fire.1

These clay tablets were intended for temporary use, serving as perishable inventories for royal palaces or emporia that were typically meant to be discarded or reused on an annual basis. However, when these palaces were destroyed by fire, the intense heat accidentally baked the clay, hardening the tablets and ensuring their survival in the archaeological record.1

Because these records were kept in the palaces, they provide a snapshot of data from the final year of each establishment before its destruction. While these documents are concise and practical—containing lists of personnel, livestock, agricultural produce, and military materiel—they remain of capital importance for understanding the social, economic, and linguistic landscape of the Mycenaean world.12