Posted on 04/16/2012 9:55:56 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists have found the oldest engravings of letters ever to be discovered in central Germany, officials from the area announced on Thursday.
The ancient letters, called runes, were scratched onto a 12.5 centimetre-long comb by Germanic settlers in the second century, scientists working on the site in Saxony-Anhalt believe.
The letters spell out "Kama", meaning comb, the president of the state Heritage and Archaeology Management Office, Sven Ostritz, said on Thursday.
It is the oldest ever example of runic writing to be found in that part of the country, he added.
Germanic languages used the runic alphabet to write before the Latin alphabet became widespread. The earliest runic engravings have been dated back to 150AD.
Engravings from a similar period have been found in the Märkische Schweiz region near Berlin, and in western Ukraine, Ostritz revealed.
The comb, which is made from deer antler, was lifted out of its resting place nearly two metres below the ground several years ago. But it had been tucked away until recently, when scientists cleaned it off and put it under a microscope to examine the writing.
It had to be painstakingly re-assembled by the team though, as it was originally found broken into pieces. Historians have been working on the ancient Germanic settlement where the comb was found since 2002.
(Excerpt) Read more at thelocal.de ...
Welcome to the asylum.
Really, that is a beautiful piece of work, that shows a lot of patience & craftsmanship, not just in the decoration, but especially in cutting & finishing the teeth so finely & uniformly.
I'd likely be lazy enough to use something less eloquent, but ready made...
...and more likely to trap a few of the fleas, lice, and other vermin creeping around in the scalp & beard.
I took it for granted...Southern Germany
They should look around its resting spot for the Barber’s Pole.
Full instructions for its use appear in the Kama Sutra.
Yes, archaeologists are always digging up runes.
It’s the prototype. Maybe those circles have a little R in the middle of them?
Indeed. A rendition of this comb would make a pretty nice gift. It looks very modern in its design.
If they don’t find it, that’s probably evidence for a pole shift.
:’)
LOL
In her Plato Prehistorian: 10,000 to 5000 B.C. Myth, Religion, Archaeology, Mary Settegast reproduces a table which shows four runic character sets; a is Upper Paleolithic (found among the cave paintings), b is Indus Valley script, c is Greek (western branch), and d is the Scandinavian runic alphabet.
Thanks, great comments.
BTW, the day after I posted this, I noticed one of my coworkers has a spoon in her office that has “SPOON” printed right on the handle.
I hope it had a warning label on the other side listing all of the dangerous things you shouldn’t do with a spoon. ;^)
Spoon is an obscure town in China. It should have an R or L on it, too....for left handed and right handed people.
;’)
That’s...uh...kinda’ weird.
The body of the guy who runed her comb?
(sorry, it's late and I couldn't resist)
Thanks for the alphabets.
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