Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The earliest writing systems evolved in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. However, humans have been storing information in some form or another for a lot longer. Hundreds of objects dating to the Upper Palaeolithic and found throughout Europe are incised with different types of signs including crosses, dots and zigzag lines. A new study analyses these markings to see if they could be an early form of proto-writing.
#ancienthistory #earlyhumans #palaeolithic
✨ IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 A Groundbreaking Study of Ice Age Artefacts
01:22 How the Palaeolithic Stored Knowledge
02:59 Decoding the Secrets of Ancient Carvings
08:20 Rethinking the Past: Earlier Interpretations
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youtube.com/channel/UC0Hs5t0U6Uf993Tba22YmKA/join
✨ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS
BlueSky: @MegalithHunter.bsky.social
✨ REFERENCES
Bentz, C. and Dutkiewicz, E., 2026. Humans 40,000 y ago developed a system of conventional signs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 123(9), p.e2520385123.
Dutkiewicz, E., Russo, G., Lee, S. Bentz C., SignBase, a collection of geometric signs on mobile objects in the Paleolithic. Sci Data 7, 364 (2020). doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00704-x
signbase.org
✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
CC BY 4.0 DEED creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Images from the research paper referenced above.
Drawings from Signbase as referenced above.
Incised raven bone, credit: Majkić, A., et al (2017).
CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Sirgensteinhöhle cave, credit: Thilo Parg
Hand axe from the Schwabian Jura, credit: Thilo Parg
Lion-man figurine, credit: Dagmar Hollmann
Venus of Hohle Fels, credit: Catatine
Wild horse figurine, credit Wuselig
Cave-lion figurine, credit: Rainer Halama
CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Map of Aurignacian sites, credit: Hughcharlesparker
Hohle Fels cave, credit: Thilo Prag
Hohlenstein-Stadel cave, credit: Franzfoto
Woolly mammoth figurine, credit: Thilo Parg
Lion or bear figurine, credit: Mogadir
CC BY-SA 2.5 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5
Bone flute from Geissenklösterle cave, credit: José-Manuel Benito Álvarez
Public domain
Hieroglyphics carved into stone
Cuneiform carved into a tablet
Chauvet cave painting
Aurignacian jewellery
The earliest writing systems evolved in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. However, humans have been storing information in some form or another for a lot longer. Hundreds of objects dating to the Upper Palaeolithic and found throughout Europe are incised with different types of signs including crosses, dots and zigzag lines. A new study analyses these markings to see if they could be an early form of proto-writing.
#ancienthistory #earlyhumans #palaeolithic
✨ IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 A Groundbreaking Study of Ice Age Artefacts
01:22 How the Palaeolithic Stored Knowledge
02:59 Decoding the Secrets of Ancient Carvings
08:20 Rethinking the Past: Earlier Interpretations
✨ JOIN MY CHANNEL
youtube.com/channel/UC0Hs5t0U6Uf993Tba22YmKA/join
✨ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS
BlueSky: @MegalithHunter.bsky.social
✨ REFERENCES
Bentz, C. and Dutkiewicz, E., 2026. Humans 40,000 y ago developed a system of conventional signs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 123(9), p.e2520385123.
Dutkiewicz, E., Russo, G., Lee, S. Bentz C., SignBase, a collection of geometric signs on mobile objects in the Paleolithic. Sci Data 7, 364 (2020). doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00704-x
signbase.org
✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
CC BY 4.0 DEED creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Images from the research paper referenced above.
Drawings from Signbase as referenced above.
Incised raven bone, credit: Majkić, A., et al (2017).
CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Sirgensteinhöhle cave, credit: Thilo Parg
Hand axe from the Schwabian Jura, credit: Thilo Parg
Lion-man figurine, credit: Dagmar Hollmann
Venus of Hohle Fels, credit: Catatine
Wild horse figurine, credit Wuselig
Cave-lion figurine, credit: Rainer Halama
CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Map of Aurignacian sites, credit: Hughcharlesparker
Hohle Fels cave, credit: Thilo Prag
Hohlenstein-Stadel cave, credit: Franzfoto
Woolly mammoth figurine, credit: Thilo Parg
Lion or bear figurine, credit: Mogadir
CC BY-SA 2.5 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5
Bone flute from Geissenklösterle cave, credit: José-Manuel Benito Álvarez
Public domain
Hieroglyphics carved into stone
Cuneiform carved into a tablet
Chauvet cave painting
Aurignacian jewellery
