All articles tagged with #proto cuneiform
New findings from Germany’s Swabian Jura uncover 40,000-year-old engraved symbol sequences on Paleolithic figurines and tools. The signs are highly repetitive and show information density similar to early proto-cuneiform, implying an early, non-language form of symbolic communication that predates formal writing by tens of thousands of years, challenging views on the linear rise of writing.
Archaeologists studying 40,000-year-old engravings and artifacts from a Swabian Jura cave in Germany report 22 recurring symbols that may constitute the oldest form of writing, with patterns reminiscent of proto-cuneiform. The team suggests these glyphs could reflect complex symbolic thought—potentially including calendrical tracking—indicating that Stone Age hunter-gatherers may have conveyed information in a structured way well before known writing systems, potentially pushing back the origins of writing by about 30,000 years, though the exact meanings remain uncertain.