US EditionStudy: 40,000-Year-Old Carvings Approach Complexity of Earliest Writing
A computational analysis of 3,000 signs on 260 artifacts reveals Stone Age symbol sequences match the complexity of proto-cuneiform script from 5,300 years ago.
- On February 23, 2026, a PNAS paper reported that analysis of 3,000 signs on 260 objects shows Paleolithic sign sequences have complexity comparable to proto‑cuneiform.
- Funded by an ERC Starting Grant, the EVINE project began at University of Tübingen, continued at University of Passau, and is led by Professor Christian Bentz who joined Saarland University in 2025.
- Researchers digitized sign sequences into a database and applied statistical modelling and machine‑learning classification, finding highly repetitive crosses, lines, dots, with figurines showing higher informational density than tools.
- The researchers say the marks were used to convey information and record thoughts, and the study narrows interpretations while suggesting portable objects aided survival and group coordination.
- Researchers were surprised to find proto‑cuneiform resembles much older signs, suggesting little changed between Old Stone Age sign sequences and early proto‑cuneiform script as the EVINE team continues fieldwork and museum visits across Europe.
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50 Articles
According to a new analysis, marks and symbols carved by humans of the Stone Age, more than 40,000 years ago, in utensils and figurines could be antecedent of writing. Marks, found in 260 objects from Germany, are very different from modern writing systems, but show the same level of complexity and density of information as protocuneiform writing, which emerged in Mesopotamia, or present-day Iraq, about 5,300 years ago. Writing used abstract pic…
Humanity's oldest geometries, engraved on ostrich eggs
At several archaeological sites in southern Africa, hundreds of highly unusual fragments of ostrich eggs have been found. Dating back more than 60,000 years, the shells were engraved by groups of Homo sapiens who lived in that region.
Signs on Stone Age objects: Precursor to written language dates back 40,000 years
EMBARGO February 23, 2026 at 3:00 PM U.S. Eastern time - Over 40,000 years ago, our early ancestors were already carving signs into tools and sculptures. According to a new analysis by linguist Christian Bentz at Saarland University and archaeologist Ewa Dutkiewicz at the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte (Museum of Prehistory and Early History) in Berlin, these sign sequences have the same level of complexity and informati…
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