Researchers investigating how the first writing arose identified the motifs on preliterate "cylinder seals" used in the trade of agricultural products and textiles. When you purchase through links on ...

The hunt to decode one of the world’s strangest writing systems has shifted from a fringe obsession to a serious scientific ...

Example of a cylinder seal (left) and its design imprinted onto clay (right) (Franck Raux © 2001 Grand Palais RMN, Musée du Louvre via Courthouse News) SAN DIEGO ...

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Archaeologists say they have uncovered evidence of what may be the world's oldest known alphabet. The alphabetic writing system was identified on finger-length clay cylinders excavated from a tomb in ...

You may not be surprised to know that some languages don't use the English alphabet in their writing systems. These languages possess their own names and special writing characters, so unfamiliar and ...

For centuries, scholars have puzzled over the origins of the world’s first writing system. Now, a study by Italian researchers reveals that some of these earliest proto-cuneiform signs may have ...

New research has revealed that a wooden tablet from Rapa Nui—also known as Easter Island—inscribed with mysterious glyphs was likely created before the Europeans’ arrival, meaning the script may be ...

The clay cylinders were found in a tomb containing six skeletons. Glenn Schwartz / Johns Hopkins University A few decades ago, researchers discovered four small clay cylinders marked with strange ...

This research was conducted with Simon Jerome Han as lead author. Piers Kelly receives funding from an ARC DECRA Fellowship. Charles Kemp's work on this project was supported by an ARC Future ...

The cuneiform sign for "head" evolved over more than 2,000 years from the pictorial sign on the left to the much abstracted sign on the right. Source: Public Domain/Wikipedia Most of the earliest ...

Have you ever wondered where the world’s first city was born? Archaeologists widely recognise a city that is located in ...