Stone Age Art May Reveal 40,000-year-old Precursor To Writing

Ancient creation could clasp clues to nan origins of written language

Thousands of markings connected objects made astir 40,000 years agone whitethorn person been much than conscionable doodles, a caller study suggests

By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron

A 40,000-year-old mammoth figurine from Vogelherd Cave successful Germany

Universität Tübingen / Hildegard Jensen

One of nan oldest known pieces of creation connected nan satellite is simply a figurine of a mammoth that was carved successful ivory by a Stone Age artisan immoderate 40,000 years ago. Found successful what is now Germany, it is marked pinch crosses and dots. The meaning of these markings is simply a mystery—but a new analysis of nan entity and hundreds of others recovered successful nan aforesaid region uncover that nan markings whitethorn person meant thing circumstantial to their ancient creators.

Researchers analyzed much than 3,000 markings connected 260 objects, including nan mammoth, that were recovered successful caves successful Germany. They wished that nan markings’ patterns are arsenic statistically analyzable arsenic protocuneiform, an early shape of penning that was recovered connected tablets from ancient Mesopotamia that were dated to astir 3,500 B.C.E.

The findings, which published Monday successful PNAS, could shed ray connected why ancient humans made creation and what intent it served.

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A 38,000-year-old figurine from Geißenklösterle Cave successful Germany

Landesmuseum Württemberg / Hendrik Zwietasch

This type of activity tin beryllium “challenging,” successful portion because specified ancient markings are practically intolerable to interpret, explains Genevieve von Petzinger, a paleoanthropologist and National Geographic emerging explorer, who studies nan origin of writing and wasn’t progressive successful nan caller study. But looking for patterns successful nan symbols, specified arsenic intentionality and repetition, “are 2 fantabulous approaches for astatine slightest trying to corroborate that these marks were meaningful beyond being ornamental doodles.”

The study was based connected a trove of Stone Age objects, from nan mammoth to a mysterious lion-human hybrid to lesser-known devices and philharmonic instruments, explains Ewa Dutkiewicz, a investigation subordinate astatine nan Museum of Prehistory and Early History successful Berlin. Many of nan objects were covered pinch markings, but nan logic why was a mystery. Were they decorations, tallies of hunting kills aliases thing else?

Dutkiewicz worked pinch linguist Christian Bentz, an subordinate professor who studies nan history of connection astatine Saarland University successful Germany, to digitize nan markings connected nan objects. They compared features of nan markings—sign diverseness and repetition, for example—to those of other, much caller motion systems, including modern writing.

The markings don’t lucifer modern-day writing. But erstwhile Bentz compared nan marks to early protocuneiform, nan similarity was unmistakable, Bentz says.

“I couldn't judge it. I went done nan information again and again,” he says. The Stone Age markings and protocuneiform look to beryllium likewise complex, contempt being separated by immoderate tens of thousands of years and sizeable distance.

Across nan 260 objects, ivory figurines specified arsenic nan mammoth carried much information-dense markings than those connected nan tools, nan researchers say. Crosslike marks don’t look connected objects depicting humans, while dots don’t look connected tools—indicating that nan markings must person had immoderate benignant of symbolic meaning to nan Stone Age humans who made them, Bentz says.

A protocuneiform tablet

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Vorderasiatisches Museum / Olaf M. Tesmer

“The statement [of nan markings] points to nan transmission of much analyzable ideas,” von Petzinger says.

Decoding what they meant is an exceptionally difficult—if not impossible—task. But Bentz and Dutkiewicz’s methods could thief different researchers analyse what akin markings connected different ancient objects from elsewhere astir nan world whitethorn signify—even though they cannot publication them.

“The much we tin study astir nan action of ‘writing’ surfaces and choices astir circumstantial images and signs, nan much we will beryllium capable to study astir this play from which [writing] later emerged,” von Petzinger says.