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2h ago

PNAS Study Identifies 40,000-Year-Old Sign System Comparable to Proto-Cuneiform

Researchers analyzed roughly 3,000 marks from Aurignacian artifacts in Germany, showing conventional sequences that fall short of true writing.

A figurine called Adorant from Geissenkloesterle Cave, located near the town of Blaubeuren in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, made approximately 40,000 years old and consisting of a small ivory plate bearing an anthropomorphic figure and multiple sequences of notches and dots, is displayed, in Stuttgart, Germany, February 23, 2026. Landesmuseum Wuerttemberg/Hendrik Zwietasch/Handout via REUTERS
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Overview

  • Peer-reviewed findings released this week in PNAS report structured, repeatable sign sequences on about 260 Aurignacian objects dated to roughly 43,000–34,000 years ago.
  • The team cataloged 22 sign types and used computational methods to measure entropy and information density, revealing patterns unlike modern writing systems.
  • The Stone Age sequences exhibit information density comparable to early proto-cuneiform tablets from Uruk, indicating a similar level of structured repetition.
  • Marks were applied selectively by medium, with crosses present on animal figurines and tools but not on human depictions, while dots appeared with humans and lions but not on tools.
  • These conventions appear stable across about 10,000 years, the marks do not encode spoken language, and their specific meanings remain undeciphered.