I don't think the examples given by the author are good ones (although I don't entirely reject the conclusion). Doing what is essentially advanced computer vis

I don't think the examples given by the author are good ones (although I don't entirely reject the conclusion). Doing what is essentially advanced computer vision is a very different type of problem from decoding Linear A. The Herculaneum Scrolls are a case where we have a relatively self-contained source of information and we "just" need technical skills, which historians probably lack, to extract it. Deciphering Linear A or the Indus Valley script is a case where the information is simply not available in any given artifact (or any set of artifacts that someone can study in a short period). No amount of technical prowess or brilliance from an "outsider" is gonna magically add that information. The only way you can hope to unravel that mystery is with deep expertise in the archaeologal and linguistic CONTEXT. That takes years or decades to build up. Which irequires exactly the opposite kind of funding: stable employment in an opportunity-rich environment. Not a one-off prize.