Ancient Humans’ First Written Words Are 20,000 Years Old

meaning to their makers, a team of researchers recently assessed a series of 862 animal representations from the Upper Paleolithic to translate the three widest spread symbols: the dot, the slash and the y-shaped sign.

Ultimately, the team surmised that the number and the placement of these symbols related information about the mating and birthing of their associated animals, which was of the utmost importance to individuals of the time.It is no surprise that thinking about animals is central to hunter-gatherers’ being in the world,” the researchers state in their study. “It follows that knowledge of the timing of migrations, mating and birthing would be a central concern.

Using statistical analysis to scrutinize these animal-and-sequence associations further, comparing patterns of birthing, mating and migration to patterns of dots, slashes and strokes, the team found that the simple dots and slashes symbolized the number of after the start of the spring that the associated animals started to mate. Alternatively, they found that the placement of the Y-shaped strokes symbolized the beginning of the species’ birthing season.According to the authors, while the sequences may not constitute the “full-blown” form of the written word, they certainly comprise a preliminary phase in the transition to writing.Some

archaeologists and anthropologists who were not involved with the work warn that the researchers did not investigate alternative interpretations of the three markings, nor did they investigate the meanings of other markings in Upper Paleolithic art, outside of the three that they selected. That said, several still support the theory that these markings meant something meaningful to their makers, whether they signified the seasonal activities of animals or not.

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