Overview
- The team digitized sequences of lines, points, crosses and notches from Upper Paleolithic objects dated roughly 34,000 to 45,000 years ago, many from Germany’s Swabian Jura.
- Statistical measures of frequency, transition probabilities and entropy show high repetition and predictability consistent with organized notation.
- The information density of these sequences is statistically comparable to early Mesopotamian protocuneiform, according to the study.
- Researchers stress the systems are not phonetic writing and their specific meanings remain undeciphered, yet they appear designed to record information durably.
- Examples include a Vogelherd mammoth incised with rows of crosses and dots, the Adorant plaque from the Ach valley, and the Lion-man from Hohlenstein‑Stadel.