A new scientific study is reshaping long-held assumptions about the origins of writing and symbolic communication.
Researchers now suggest that the first modern humans in Europe may have been using structured symbol systems as early as 40,000 years ago—tens of thousands of years before the emergence of formal writing in Mesopotamia.
For decades, archaeologists interpreted markings found on Palaeolithic artefacts—dots carved into bone, zigzags etched onto ivory figurines, parallel lines and cross-hatched patterns—as decorative or ritualistic elements. However, fresh analysis indicates these symbols may have formed part of a systematic method of communication within early human communities.
The research was done by Christian Bentz of Saarland University and archaeologist Ewa Dutkiewicz of the Berlin State Museums. The team re-examined hundreds of artefacts from the Aurignacian culture that belonged to a Palaeolithic population that lived across portions of Europe some 40,000 years ago.
The researchers make it clear that these markings do not match modern writing rules, but their discoveries strongly suggest that in an ancient world, people structured and communicated messages symbolically long before written language developed.
The earliest known writing systems—such as Sumerian proto-cuneiform in Mesopotamia—date back roughly 5,000 years. These systems evolved from numerical and economic record-keeping into structured scripts representing spoken language. As a result, the history of written communication has long been viewed as relatively recent in human development. The new study challenges that perception.
Researchers catalogued more than 3,000 individual signs across 260 portable objects, including mammoth-ivory figurines, bone tools, horn fragments, personal ornaments and flute-like instruments. Symbols such as dots, V-shapes, parallel lines, crosses and shaded patterns appeared repeatedly across different artefacts.
Using computer algorithms and methods adapted from information theory in linguistics, the team examined repetition rates, variation, and information density—known as entropy analysis.
Its findings revealed that symbols were not randomly distributed. Instead, they appeared in recurring sequences, indicating shared conventions within the community. Also apparent was a 15% greater information density in symbol sequences on figurines than on tools.
Tools, in turn, showed more regular variation than decorative objects such as ornaments. This suggests that early humans might have adopted symbolic markings based on an object’s function, reinforcing the argument that the symbols were meaningful rather than purely decorative.
Perhaps the most striking finding of the study is the system’s longevity. The structure and informational density of these symbols remained relatively stable for nearly 10,000 years, indicating that the practice was passed from one generation to the next. But unlike Mesopotamian proto-writing, the Aurignacian system did not evolve into full writing.
Why the symbolic tradition eventually disappeared is not a clear question for researchers. Cultural shifts, migration, or the breakdown of social contexts which once provided meaning to the symbols can all be explanations, according to the researchers. Nonetheless, the findings provide compelling evidence that the roots of organised symbolic communication stretch far deeper into human history than previously believed.
Header Image Credit : Universität Tübingen
Sources : Universität Tübingen
