2003/03/01 by Xueqin Li, Garman Harbottle, Juzhong Zhang +1 · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies #Global Maritime and Colonial Histories #Australian Indigenous Culture and History #Sign (mathematics) #China #Period (music) #History #Tortoise #Ancient history #Old Chinese #Geography #Archaeology #Linguistics #Art #Philosophy #Geology #Paleontology
paper · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00061329
openalex publication_date 2003/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Early Neolithic graves at Jiahu, Henan Province, China, include tortoise shells which are incised with signs – some of which anticipate later Chinese characters and may be intended as words. Is this the earliest writing? The authors decide rather that the signs in this very early period performed as symbols connected with ritual practice, but they presage a long period of sign use which led eventually to a writing system.