http://www.upenn.edu/researchatpenn/article.php?301&soc
Rethinking a History That's Carved in StoneThree months after the announcement of its discovery in Central Asia, a tiny stone object inscribed with symbols thought to be the writing of an obscure desert culture from 4,000 years ago is more of an enigma than ever.
by John Noble Wilford
July 31, 2001
If this is indeed an early form of writing, as its discoverer has suggested, it is strong evidence for a previously unknown civilization that began about 2300 B.C. across much of modern Turkmenistan and parts of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
But some scholars challenge this theory, arguing that the signs are not true writing based on a spoken language. And, they say, one sample with three or four characters on a thumbnail-size stone is hardly sufficient to establish the existence of a writing system. On that, the discoverer, Dr. Fredrik T. Hiebert of the University of Pennsylvania, agrees.
An even more puzzling aspect of the discovery has been raised by specialists in ancient Chinese writing. They contend that the inscription bears more than a passing resemblance to Chinese writing -- not an early script, but one that was not used until about 200 B.C.
http://www.upenn.edu/researchatpenn/article.php?301&soc