A study pushes back the date of the appearance of the first forms of writing by 35,000 years.
The research concludes that the markings on 260 Paleolithic objects have the same level of complexity as cuneiform writing.
BarcelonaA study published PNASThe journal of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences is poised to overturn the previously accepted chronology of the emergence of the first forms of writing. According to this research, the earliest examples of writing appeared 40,000 years ago, inscribed by our ancestors on stone objects. Until now, the earliest known examples of writing were placed around 3000 BC. Therefore, this discovery pushes back the emergence of writing by 35,000 years.
The team of researchers, comprised of linguist Christian Bentz from Saarland University (Germany) and archaeologist Ewa Dutkiewicz from the Museum of Prehistory and Ancient History in Berlin, has concluded that the signs inscribed on 260 Paleolithic objects are cuneiform writing from the ancient Mesopotamian civilization, dating back some 5,000 years. The objects, dating from between 34,000 and 45,000 years ago, were found in the Swabian Jura, a mountain range in southwestern Germany where a collection of caves and prehistoric art has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017. Among the objects are carefully engraved dots. Another object is a mammoth ivory plate found at the Geissenklösterle site depicting a human-lion hybrid and decorated with lines of dots and notches. Another human-lion hybrid from the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave has notches placed at regular intervals along its arm. According to Dutkiewicz and Bentz, the markings were intended to communicate information and record the thoughts of the humans who made them. "Our research is helping to reveal the unique statistical properties, or statistical imprinting, of these sign systems, which are precursors to writing," explains Bentz.
"The Swabian Jura is not the only region where objects with these kinds of signs have been found," argues Dutkiewicz. "There are countless Paleolithic tools and sculptures that display sequences of intentional signs." The researchers have visited several European museums and archaeological sites to document Stone Age signs. "There are many sequences of signs on artifacts; we've only scratched the surface," Dutkiewicz asserts.
Computer analysis of more than 3,000 signs
The researchers conducted a computer-assisted analysis of the more than 3,000 signs found on nearly 260 objects. The goal was not to discover the meaning of the signs, which remains undeciphered. "There are many theories, but at the moment there is very little empirical data on the basic, measurable characteristics of the signs," explains Bentz, who has investigated the patterns and frequencies of tangible aspects of the signs. This has allowed him to see what the sign systems have in common with later systems. The linguist's methodology has consisted of comparing statistics to discover the origins of information encoding. "Our analyses demonstrate that these sequences of signs have nothing to do with modern writing systems, which represent spoken languages and are characterized by high-density information. In contrast, the signs on the archaeological objects are frequently repeated: cross, cross, cross, line, line, line. This type of repetition is not a word."
"However, the findings show that Paleolithic hunter-gatherers developed a symbol system with an information density statistically comparable to the earliest proto-cuneiform tablets of ancient Mesopotamia, which appeared 35,000 years later. Repetitive sequences and individual symbols are repeated at a similar rate. "The figures exhibit a higher information density than the tools," Dutkiewicz clarifies.
The researchers were particularly surprised by the comparison between the sign systems and proto-cuneiform writing. "Our initial hypothesis was that the earliest examples of proto-cuneiform writing would be more similar to modern writing systems, due to their relative proximity in time. But as we studied them, it became increasingly clear that proto-cuneiform writing was very similar to Paleolithic sign systems," he explains. Therefore, writing did not change much between the Old Stone Age and the emergence of proto-cuneiform writing.