Writing may have begun 40,000 years earlier than thought: Research
Researchers have found patterns of meaning etched in lines, notches, dots and crosses on ancient objects, including mammoth tusks dating as far back as 45,000 years, within caves in Germany.
The discovery that humans may have been recording their thoughts and feelings for tens of thousands of years longer than previously thought has surprised archaeologists.
Researchers found patterns of meaning etched in lines, notches, dots and crosses on ancient objects, including mammoth tusks dating as far back as 45,000 years, within caves in Germany, reports the BBC.
Historically, the outset of writing has been marked around 5,000 years ago with proto-cuneiform scripts from ancient Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq.
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However, the exact meaning behind these symbols in Germany continues to elude researchers.
These artefacts are believed to date from just before Homo sapiens migrated to Europe from Africa, where they encountered Neanderthals.
The common understanding has been that writing originated in Mesopotamia around 3,000 BCE, later expanding to hieroglyphs in Egypt and subsequently in China and Mesoamerica.
According to Prof Christian Bentz from Saarland University, who contributed to this research, the sequences of signs from the Stone Age may present an early form of writing.
Researcher Ewa Dutkiewicz from Berlin's Museum of Prehistory and Early History says this work indicates prehistoric humans exhibited cleverness on par with modern populations.
"So far, we've only scratched the surface of what can be found in terms of symbol sequences on a wide variety of artefacts," she adds.
The team meticulously analysed over 3,000 characters on 260 different objects to unveil what they refer to as the "DNA of writing."
Among these objects are artefacts from the 37-km-long cave system known as Lonetal in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany.
On a small mammoth figurine carved from a tusk, researchers examined meticulously engraved patterns of crosses and dots.
In addition, they identified rows of dots and notches on an ivory piece, known as the "adorant," from the Geißenklösterle cave in the Achtal valley, depicting a figure that appears to be a lion-human hybrid.
The arrangement of these marks, particularly the dots on the underside, suggests they served as a means of communication.
The researchers believe these symbols were purposefully carved to convey messages, meanings and thoughts.
Bentz explains, "Our results also show that the hunter-gatherers of the Palaeolithic era developed a symbol system with a statistically comparable information density to the earliest proto-cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia – a full 40,000 years later."
The key to uncovering meaning lies in the density of the symbols.
The team observed a high repetition of certain signs and predictable sequences akin to much later proto-cuneiform symbols.
Interestingly, they noted denser patterns on figurines compared to tools, highlighting the significance of communication in Palaeolithic life.
Dutkiewicz says, "They were skilled craftspeople. You can tell they carried the objects with them. Many of them fit very well in the hand, just the right size to fit in the palm."
This groundbreaking research is published in the journal PNAS.
