The original piece, now in the Heraklion Museum in Crete, was found at the palace at Phaistos and dates to ca 1500 BCE. It was made of fired clay and is about 15cm in diameter, covered on both sides with a spiral of stamped symbols.

The 241 pictograms on the disc comprises 45 symbols, including Man, Woman, Child, Bow, Arrow, Shield, and Dove - mostly representations of easily identified everyday things. Its purpose and meaning, even its original place of manufacture, remain disputed, making it one of the most famous mysteries of archaeology.

Proposed interpretations include prayers, a narrative or an adventure story, a call to arms, a board game, even a geometric theorem.