7,000-YEAR-OLD CERAMIC FRAGMENT WITH POSSIBLY ‘WORLD’S OLDEST WRITING’ DISCOVERED IN BULGARIA’S RIBEN
A ceramic fragment dating back to 5,000 BC with what might be “the world’s oldest writing" has been discovered in a previously unknown Chalcolithic (Aeneolithic, Copper Age) settlement found underneath the Ancient Roman road station Ad Putea near the town of Riben, Dolma Mitropoliya Municipality, Pleven District, in Northern Bulgaria.
The archaeological excavations of the Ancient Roman road station Ad Putea have been led by archaeologist Assoc. Prof. Sergey Torbatov from the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology , who is, respectively, an expert in Roman archaeology.
However, during the 2016 digs in the Roman fortress near Riben the researchers have reached a settlement from the Chalcolithic, and have stumbled upon the ceramic item seemingly featuring pictographic or pre-alphabetic writing.
The writing on the artifact which is in fact a fragment from a clay vessel could turn out to be the world’s oldest, Volodya Popov , Director of the Pleven Regional Museum of History has stated when announcing the discovery, as cited by BTA .
According to Popov, who is a specialist in prehistoric archaeology, the potentially prehistoric writing found on the slab from Bulgaria’s Riben is 2,000 years older than the writing of Ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. It could prove that the first ever instance of written transfer of information occurred on the territory of today’s Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula.
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For the time being, the newly found 7,000-year-old ceramic fragment has been seen by archaeologists only ; it is to be shown to the media and the public only in early 2017, after a conference to be held at the National Institute and Museum of Archaeolog y in Sofia.
However, Popov has revealed that the artifact features two pictographic signs, a swastika , and a group of other written signs.
In his words, 7,000 years ago, prehistoric ceramic vessels with written signs on them were used for religious rites and rituals. However, the decoding of the actual meaning of the writing is, of course, very difficult.
Great stuff. Thanks for the link. Yeah, archeology is pushing our notion of when civilization began deeper and deeper into the past.
The whole Gobekli Tepe thing is pretty fascinating as well.
Here, while reading one can listen to what might be the oldest known tune a spinning.
Good stuff. Every new discovery keeping changing what we thought to be fact.
I read another good article recently where DNA testing showed the oldest civilizations to be in Australia and New Guinea....Between 52,000 and 70,000 year in the past.
Love this type of thing.
Me as well. Thank you for the link!
I'll see if I can find it, though sloth and ennui might just put the air brakes on that one, but I just read a couple of articles tracing Aussie Aboriginal DNA to both south and north Amerka. Most cool.
Back in the 70's I attended a few years of a symposium titled, "Pre Columbian Trans Atlantic Cultural Diffusion in the Americas". This was prior to academia even entertaining the notion that the Norse had toodled over and used the water coolers, rest rooms and fast food joints.
Anyhow, we are in the midst of some pretty fascinating and most cool discoveries in the world of archeology.
How fascinating!
It seems that the swastika had many religious meanings before the Nazis used it! In many different cultures... Thanks for this article!
From the Holy to the Profane.
Yeah...
I was thinking that Native Americans used the symbol as well-- I have a couple of silver turquoise bracelets from the 1880s that have swastikas on them... And now, the ancient peoples of Bulgaria also used the same symbol. Pretty interesting! Until the Nazis grabbed it and made it awful, it must have been a powerful symbol for the good!
Here's an article bout the swastika symbol from a site that sometimes delves into the wacky but is nonetheless full o goodness.
Great link!
I do hope you are having a most pleasant and reasonable day, Young Missy. Best to you and yours!
Why thank you, Tex! I'm having a good day here at home alone, because I'm avoiding the nasty of the FB! Much love to you and yours!!!
Many SW tribes used the swastika, and it was called the ''whirling log''.....It was the symbol of the 45th Infantry prior to the start of WWII...(many NA's were in the 45th). Once Hitler starting using it the SW tribes stopped and the 45th Infantry changed their patch to the Thunderbird, another NA symbol...It is the Symbol of the Ojibwe nations.
You can find buildings in NM built before WWII that have the swastika in their décor.