40,000-Year-Old Carvings Reveal Early Human Cognitive Abilities

Explore new findings on Stone Age carvings that suggest a prehistoric information system. These ancient symbols show a complexity that rivals early proto-cuneiform.

Humans might have begun recording information tens of thousands of years before the invention of writing systems, as suggested by recent research on ancient Stone Age carvings. A team of researchers, including linguist Christian Bentz from Saarland University and archaeologist Ewa Dutkiewicz from the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, conducted a study that challenges the traditional view that structured ways of storing and sharing information began with the development of early writing systems like proto-cuneiform around 3000 BCE.

The study, published in the journal PNAS, examined over 3,000 engraved signs found on around 260 prehistoric objects that are more than 34,000 to 45,000 years old. These objects, discovered primarily in caves in the Swabian Jura region of southwestern Germany, included tools, figurines, and carved ivory pieces.

Surprisingly Similar to Early Writing

Many of these items showed repeated patterns, such as lines, dots, crosses, and notches, arranged with care rather than by chance. One notable example is a small mammoth figurine from Vogelherd Cave, which features rows of crosses and dots. Other well-known objects, such as lion-human sculptures and decorated ivory plaques, also display similar markings.

According to Professor Bentz, these signs show a distinct statistical pattern, showing that they may have formed organised systems rather than just artistic designs. The team believes that early humans may have used these carvings to record or share information.

Although the carvings do not represent spoken language like modern writing, their complexity and "information density" were found to be remarkably similar to proto-cuneiform. Both systems rely on repeated symbols, unlike modern alphabets. Dutkiewicz pointed out that figurines contained more complex information than tools. This suggests that different objects might have had different roles.

A Long Road Towards Writing

The researchers emphasize that the symbols found on these objects cannot yet be fully understood, and it remains unclear what information they conveyed. However, the study demonstrates that humans were developing methods to encode knowledge much earlier than previously believed. At the time these objects were created, early Homo sapiens had only recently arrived in Europe and were living alongside Neanderthals. Despite not having formal writing systems, they likely had cognitive abilities similar to those of modern humans.

The team suggests that portable carved objects might have helped early communities remember events, organise activities, or share knowledge. As Bentz explains, writing did not appear suddenly, it developed slowly from earlier symbol systems over thousands of years, forming the foundation for the information technologies that humans still rely on today.