Prehistorc tablet calls into question history of writing
Back in 1993, in a Neolithic lakeshore settlement that occupied an artificial island near the modern village of Dispilio on Lake Kastoria in the Kastoria Prefecture, professor George Hourmouziadis and his team unearthed the Dispilio Tablet (also known as the Dispilio Scripture or the Dispilio Disk), a wooden tablet bearing inscribed markings (charagmata) that has been carbon 14-dated to about 7300 BP (5260 BC).
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The Dispilio Tablet [Credit: mlahanas] |
According to the Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the markings suggested that the current theory proposing that the ancient Greeks received their alphabet from the ancient civilizations of the Middle East (Babylonians, Sumerians and Phoenicians etc) fails to close the historic gap of some 4,000 years. This gap translates into the following facts: while ancient eastern civilizations would use ideograms to express themselves, the ancient Greeks were using syllables in a similar manner like we use today.
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The inscribed symbols of the Dispilio Tablet [Credit: mlahanas] |
The tablet is 2,000 years older than the written findings from the Sumerian era and 4,000 years older than the Cretan-Mycenean linear types of writing.
According to Hourmouziadis’ statements back in 1994, the markings on the tablet did not resemble the human figures, the sun and moon or other figures ideograms usually depict. They actually showed signs of advanced apheresis, which indicates they are the result of cognitive processes.
The tablet was partially damaged when it was exposed to the oxygen-rich environment outside of the mud and water in which it was immersed for a long period of time, and it is now under conservation. The full academic publication of the tablet apparently awaits the completion of the work of conservation.
Author: Stella Tsolakidou | Source: Greek Reporter [July 16, 2012]
Does it hold truths .. will it reveal anything worth writing about?
ReplyDeleteHaha! Good one :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat's very interesting to me is that one of the main characters in my thriller novel "Emerald" proposes pretty close to this scenario, arguing that Vinca was a spoken and written language, ultimately evolved from the language spoken (and some argue, written) by the Cro-Magnons.
ReplyDeleteI meant it to be fiction, but this is fascinating!
Brian January
Greek is an Indo-European language. The Indo-European language group didn't emerge until around 3000 BCE. The first evidence of Greek language comes from the Linear B writings after 1400 BCE.
ReplyDeleteIf those marks represent a written language, it would have little to do with Greek or Indo-European language - or perhaps any known language.
Good point, rouge77. Exciting, though, eh? Brian January, is your book on Amazon? Must check!
ReplyDeleteIt's evident that the real process of learning to write of the greeks is other
ReplyDeleteWell i hope that the studies will continue as it might be proved that the ability of the Greeks on writing to be the most ancient, certainly school books will change
ReplyDeleteHa! E T are the first letters then theres a representation of the all seeing eye pyramid ;) just my observation
ReplyDelete“Orthodoxy means not thinking--not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.” ~George Orwell
ReplyDeleteThat myth of "Indo-European" roots of the Greek language and Greeks must end. Greeks were autochthonous to their lands and recent DNA analysis confirms this proposition.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, the common belief that "Phoenicians gave their Alphabet to Greeks" is another myth that needs revision. It's very unlikely that the "receivers" of a writing system can produce far superior literature than the "donors" just as this alleged "giving" was taking place.
ALPHA ---------------------------------------------------------OMEGA
ReplyDeleteNO ONE WROTE ABOUT THE GREEKS
CARE FOR AN EXLANATION .. LET ME KNOW AND THATS NOT A QUESTION THATS THE ANSWER BEFORE THE QUESTION
See the blog post 'Ever heard of the Dispilio Tablet?' on Quora if you are curious about the possibility of reading the Dispilio tablet.
ReplyDeleteIf you compare the script on the Dispilio tablet to Linear B, about half of the Dispilio signs are Linear B, some tipped over or inverted, but they are recognizable.
Because the wood was carbon dated to 7000-8000 BC, does not necessarily mean the inscriptions were done at the same era as the tree that this wood came from.
ReplyDeleteBecause the wood was carbon dated to 7000-8000 BC, does not necessarily mean the inscriptions were done at the same era as the tree that this wood came from.
ReplyDeleteThe top letters in the left hand corner, appear to be FE or iron in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThe dating of this artifact relies solely on Carbon 14. The problem I see is the one called ' old wood problem'. The dating technique tells us the age of the wood (barring contamination) and not the time when the writing was made.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this information.Nice article you have been posted, It's very informative and helpful.
ReplyDelete