▁the ▁origin ▁of ▁the ▁script ) ▁is ▁rather ▁de cept ive , ▁as ▁the ▁arch ae ological ▁context ▁of ▁Cy pr us ▁was ▁largely ▁different ▁from ▁that ▁of ▁M ino an ▁Cre te , ▁even ▁in ▁spite ▁of ▁visible ▁traces ▁of ▁trade ▁with ▁Cre te ▁in ▁the ▁arch ae ological ▁context , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁the ▁common ▁presence ▁of ▁C yp ri ot ▁and ▁C ret an ▁writing ▁in ▁U gar it . ▁There ▁were ▁no ▁visible ▁traces ▁of ▁M ino an ▁invasion , ▁colon ization , ▁or ▁even ▁significant ▁cultural ▁influence ▁in ▁Bron ze ▁Age ▁Cy pr us . ▁At ▁that ▁time , ▁the ▁island ▁was ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁Near - E ast ▁cultural ▁circle ▁rather ▁than ▁A ege an ▁civil izations . ▁ ▁Based ▁on ▁the ▁above - ment ioned ▁classification ▁of ▁the ▁script ▁into ▁several ▁vari eties , ▁Em ilia ▁Mass on ▁hypoth es ized ▁that ▁they ▁may ▁represent ▁different ▁languages ▁that ▁chron olog ically ▁supp l anted ▁each ▁other . ▁Sil via ▁Ferr ara , ▁while ▁dis pro ving ▁Mass on ' s ▁hypothesis ▁about ▁these ▁vari eties ▁as ▁chron ological ▁stages , ▁also ▁indicated ▁that ▁the ▁statistics ▁of ▁use ▁of ▁signs ▁for ▁all ▁the ▁vari eties , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁several ▁notice able ▁combinations ▁of ▁signs , ▁were ▁the ▁same ▁for ▁all ▁the ▁vari eties , ▁which ▁may ▁point ▁to ▁the ▁same ▁language ▁rather ▁than ▁separate ▁languages . ▁ ▁Art ifact s ▁The ▁earliest ▁known ▁C M ▁ins cription ▁found ▁in ▁Europe ▁was ▁a ▁cl ay ▁table t