Chinese archaeologists have discovered a stunning 30,000-year-old engraved stone artifact in a collection of stone tools unearthed at the Paleolithic site of Shuidonggou in 1980.
Posted on 12/01/2012 6:42:09 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Prof Xing Gao of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, co-author of the paper, said: “Shuidonggou site includes 12 localities, ranging in date from Early Late to Late Paleolithic. The engraved stone artifact was found at Locality 1, which is about 30,000 years old.”
Dr Peng added: “we used a digital microscope to observe all the incisions, obtaining many 3D images. After excluding the possibility of natural cracking, trampling and animal-induced damage, and unintentional human by-products, we believe that the incisions were made by intentional behavior. Although we cannot be sure of the function of these incisions, the straight shape of each line shows that it was incised once over a short time interval without repeated cutting, implying the possibility of counting or recording at that time.”
“Furthermore, creation of such an engraved object may indicate the possible existence of complex communicative systems such as language,” he said.
“In addition to the engraved stone artifact, one ostrich egg bead was unearthed from Locality 1. The lithic assemblage of this locality includes blade production and elongated tool blanks. The blade technology was probably introduced from the Altai region of Russian Siberia, according to comparison between lithic assemblages. The flake technology is typical of the Late Paleolithic in north China.
(Excerpt) Read more at sci-news.com ...
Chinese archaeologists have discovered a stunning 30,000-year-old engraved stone artifact in a collection of stone tools unearthed at the Paleolithic site of Shuidonggou in 1980.
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. |
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That’s about 23,000 years before the creation of Earth!
It’s an early example of vote counting. The Democrat won, and the results are set in stone and can’t be changed.
Dating rocks can be a little tricky.
does it say “Unicorn Ranch”??
It really sez, “if the cave is a-rockin’, don’t come knockin’”.
For one thing, what kind of movies do they like?
Looks like the Roman Empire stretched further east and farther back in time than we knew.
Stunning. Simply stunning. That’s as fine an example of rock writing as I’ve ever seen. Marvelous. Scientists everywhere can hold their heads a little higher today. The scratches are, I think, some of the best displays of bimodal attenuation ever found. Normally, you don’t find this kind of work from a young artist. The artist usually has to suffer for several years. Did they find a cut off piece of ear by it? Well, one can hope.
P.S. sunkenciv; never think that I’m making fun of you. I do appreciate what you put on Free Republic.
“Dating rocks can be a little tricky.”
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I’ll say......How on Earth can they determine the age of the carvings without a reference point?
Sharpening a blade, more like. Two strokes connect like the blade came down on the right side, then the left.
Heretic! It’s 24,000!
How similar are these markings to known Runic markings?
Is it a calendar that says the Mayans were wrong with their calendar?
You did it now! The crazies can sense what you wrote, and will be here post-haste.
This would have been done during the last glaciation, towards the end. The individuals that would have done this must have been very resourceful.
| Rune | UCS | Transliteration | IPA | Proto-Germanic name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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ᚠ | f | /f/ | *fehu | "wealth, cattle" |
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ᚢ | u | /u(ː)/ | ?*ūruz | "aurochs" (or *ûram "water/slag"?) |
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ᚦ | þ | /θ/, /ð/ | ?*þurisaz | "the god Thor, giant" |
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ᚨ | a | /a(ː)/ | *ansuz | "one of the Æsir (gods)" |
 |
ᚱ | r | /r/ | *raidō | "ride, journey" |
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ᚲ | k | /k/ | ?*kaunan | "ulcer"? (or *kenaz "torch"?) |
 |
ᚷ | g | /ɡ/ | *gebō | "gift" |
 |
ᚹ | w | /w/ | *wunjō | "joy" |
  |
ᚺ ᚻ | h | /h/ | *hagalaz | "hail" (the precipitation) |
 |
ᚾ | n | /n/ | *naudiz | "need" |
 |
ᛁ | i | /i(ː)/ | *īsaz | "ice" |
 |
ᛃ | j | /j/ | *jēra- | "year, good year, harvest" |
 |
ᛇ | ï (or æ) | /æː/(?) | *ī(h)waz/*ei(h)waz | "yew-tree" |
 |
ᛈ | p | /p/ | ?*perþ- | meaning unclear, perhaps "pear-tree". |
 |
ᛉ | z | /z/ | ?*algiz | unclear, possibly "elk". |
  |
ᛊ | s | /s/ | *sōwilō | "Sun" |
 |
ᛏ | t | /t/ | *tīwaz/*teiwaz | "the god Tiwaz" |
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ᛒ | b | /b/ | *berkanan | "birch" |
 |
ᛖ | e | /e(ː)/ | *ehwaz | "horse" |
 |
ᛗ | m | /m/ | *mannaz | "Man" |
 |
ᛚ | l | /l/ | *laguz | "water, lake" (or possibly *laukaz "leek") |
   |
ᛜ ᛝ | ŋ | /ŋ/ | *ingwaz | "the god Ingwaz" |
 |
ᛟ | o | /o(ː)/ | *ōþila-/*ōþala- | "heritage, estate, possession" |
 |
ᛞ | d | /d/ | *dagaz | "day" |
God, right this moment, can create a rock that proves, by our testing, to be sixty million years old!
How about that!
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