Approximately 40,000 years ago, early humans in Europe created a sophisticated system of geometric symbols. These symbols are believed to represent an intentional, repeatable form of communication that transcends mere decoration. Discover more in a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Movable artefact featuring geometric symbols from the Swabian Aurignacian culture. Image credit: Christian Bentz & Ewa Dutkiewicz, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2520385123.
According to researchers Christian Benz from the Universities of Saarland and Passau, and Eva Dutkiewicz from the National Museum in Berlin, “Around 45,000 years ago, modern humans migrated into eastern and central Europe.”
During this migration, they encountered Neanderthals, their distant relatives.
In a period of rapid population turnover, modern humans produced a variety of movable artifacts, including tools and figurines crafted from materials such as ivory, bone, and antler.
These artifacts date back to the early Upper Paleolithic and are part of the Aurignacian technocomplex.
Numerous objects adorned with geometric symbols have been discovered, particularly in France’s Dordogne region, Germany’s Swabian Jura, and Belgian archaeological sites.
The researchers examined a collection of 260 mobile Aurignacian artifacts found in caves in the Swabian Jura.
These remarkable items, made from mammoth ivory, bone, and horn, date between 43,000 and 34,000 years ago.
Artifacts include tools, beads, musical instruments, and figurines representing both animals and humans, many etched with sequences of geometric signs—dots, lines, crosses, and more.
The scientists emphasized, “The inhabitants of these caves produced specialized tools for cutting meat, processing animal hides, and crafting clothing and ropes during this period.”
They also pioneered the flute, the first musical instrument made from bone and ivory.
Utilizing information theory and quantitative linguistics, the authors analyzed over 3,000 geometric symbols from the artifacts.
They assessed characteristics like repetition, diversity, and overall information density within the engraved symbols.
Dr. Benz noted, “While many theories exist, there has been minimal empirical research on the measurable properties of these symbols.”
The results revealed intriguing findings. Statistically, these Paleolithic symbols differ significantly from modern writing, which usually favors less repetition and denser information.
However, they bear a resemblance to Protocuneiform, the earliest known accounting symbols from Mesopotamia, used about 5,500 years ago.
This similarity doesn’t indicate that Ice Age Europeans had a writing system, as true writing encodes spoken language, while the Aurignacian symbols do not.
Instead, these artifacts illustrate a stable, traditional system for visually storing and conveying information without language.
The placement of symbols matters; figurines, particularly ivory ones, display a greater complexity and denser arrangement than everyday tools.
Specific symbols were exclusive to certain subjects, with dots frequently appearing on human and feline figures, while crosses were found on mammoths and horses, but never on human forms.
This pattern indicates a shared set of rules passed down through generations.
Researchers noted that unlike precuneiform, which evolved into a comprehensive script as ancient societies grew more complex, the structure of the Aurignacian symbol system remained remarkably consistent over roughly 10,000 years.
Dr. Benz stated, “Our analysis reveals that these symbol sequences have no correlation to contemporary writing systems, which represent spoken language and feature high information density.”
In contrast, the symbols found in archaeological artifacts often showcase repetitive patterns: cross, cross, cross, line, line, line, a hallmark absent in spoken language.
“Our findings also indicate that Paleolithic hunter-gatherers developed symbols with an information density statistically akin to the earliest proto-cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia, which emerged 40,000 years later.”
Proto-cuneiform symbols exhibit a similar repetitive quality, with individual symbols appearing at consistent rates, showcasing comparable complexity.
This discovery supports the growing consensus among archaeologists that symbolic communication likely evolved gradually through systems aimed at recording numbers, events, or social knowledge, rather than emerging suddenly as writing.
Some symbols may have tracked seasonal patterns, hunting data, or ritual concepts, though their precise meanings remain elusive.
Dr. Dutkiewicz added, “Modern humans have the benefit of thousands of years of accumulated knowledge that was unavailable to our ancestors. However, anatomically, Stone Age humans may have possessed cognitive abilities akin to ours.”
“The capacity to record and share information was crucial for Paleolithic humans, possibly enhancing their ability to coordinate groups and improve survival strategies.”
“They were adept craftsmen, evident in the portability of many of these artifacts, which often fit seamlessly in the palm of the hand, reminiscent of proto-cuneiform tablets.”
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Christian Benz and Eva Dutkiewicz. 2026. Early humans developed a traditional symbol system 40,000 years ago. PNAS 123 (9): e2520385123; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2520385123
Source: www.sci.news
