Study suggests humans recorded information 40,000 years before writing

The research, led by linguist Christian Bentz of Saarland University and archaeologist Ewa Dutkiewicz of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, challenges the long-held assumption that early engraved markings were merely decorative.

Statistical structure, not random marks

Using computational and statistical modeling, the team analyzed more than 3,000 engraved symbols found on 260 Paleolithic artifacts. Their findings indicate that the sequences of lines, dots, notches and crosses exhibit measurable complexity and information density — properties comparable to proto-cuneiform, widely regarded as the earliest known writing system, which emerged around 3000 BCE in Mesopotamia.

Rather than random ornamentation, the repeated patterns suggest intentional design and structured communication. Bentz described the markings as possessing a distinct “statistical fingerprint,” implying that they functioned as early systems for storing or conveying information.

Evidence from the Swabian Jura

Many of the artifacts examined date back between 34,000 and 45,000 years and were discovered in caves in the Swabian Jura region of southwestern Germany.

At Vogelherd Cave in the Lone Valley, archaeologists uncovered a small mammoth figurine carved from ivory and decorated with rows of crosses and dots.

Another significant artifact, the Lion Man from Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave, features evenly spaced notches along one arm. The regularity of these markings further supports the argument that they carried symbolic or informational meaning.

Implications for the origins of writing

The findings suggest that the cognitive and communicative foundations of writing systems developed tens of thousands of years earlier than previously assumed. While these Paleolithic signs were not “writing” in the strict linguistic sense, their structured nature indicates that early Homo sapiens may already have been experimenting with durable methods of recording information.

“Our research is helping us uncover the unique statistical properties — or statistical fingerprint — of these sign systems, which are an early predecessor to writing,” Bentz said.

The study contributes to a growing body of scholarship proposing that symbolic complexity — a hallmark of modern human cognition — was firmly established deep in prehistory.