What If Writing Began in the Ice Age?

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    / @megalithhunter   ✨ 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). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00... https://www.signbase.org ✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS CC BY 4.0 DEED https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... 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 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... 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 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... 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 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... 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