A wooden Dispilio tablet inscribed with markings, possibly representing a written text, was discovered during the excavation of a Neolithic settlement in northern Greece. The tablet is dated to about 7,300 years ago. It is believed that the inscription on the tablet may be the oldest written
Source: Canva / CivilisatoPedia
The ancient Neolithic settlement, near the modern village of Dispilio on Lake Kastoria in Kastoria Prefecture, was discovered in 1932 due to the low water level of the lake during winter.
Archaeological research has provided evidence that the site was continuously used from the early Neolithic (ca. 6,000 BC) to the late Chalcolithic (ca. 1,200 BC, Mycenaean period).
The tablet would be 2,000 years older than the clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing from the Sumerian period and 4,000 years older than the Cretan-Mycenaean linear letters A and B. If it turns out that this is indeed a written text.
Then, at the beginning of the 2000s, another wooden plate with a similar “inscription” was discovered, which further increased suspicions.
Wooden board with symbols
The Dispilio tile was one of many artifacts found in the area. However, the significance of the tile lies in the fact that it is carved with an unknown “written text” dating back to more than 5,260 BC.
In addition, clay tiles and pottery vessels discovered at the site had similarly incised symbols, a 2014 study said.
The Dispilio Tablet and the Real Origins of Writinghttps://t.co/Y7Dgn0koEs
— Ancient Origins (@ancientorigins)April 12, 2023
The tile is made of cedar wood (Cedrus sp.) with an almost quadrangular shape measuring 23 × 19.2 × 2 cm. Traces of fire were noticed on it. It was found during excavations in July 1993 in a test trench in the water very close to the shore of the lake. There are archaeological findings and traces of anthropogenic activity in the water throughout the area. The excavation probe was framed with wooden planks and the water was continuously pumped out. When the mud was gradually removed, a wooden tile appeared floating on the surface of the water.
On the surface of the artifact, which is characterized as the front side, up to 10 rows of linear vertical and horizontal carved “signs” can be distinguished. Similar incised signs can be seen on the upper thin side of the tile. The signs and the ancient object were preserved due to the conditions of the environment in which there was no oxygen. However, during the drying process, it was damaged and partially decayed.
Potentially the oldest written text
When the discovery of the first tile was announced in 2004, Prof. Hourmouziadis argued that tagged text cannot be easily published. “Because it would ultimately change the current historical background regarding the origins of writing and articulate speech represented by letters instead of ideograms within the confines of the ancient Greek world and the wider European world“.
According to the professor of prehistoric archaeology, “the signs suggest that the current theory which proposes that the ancient Greeks got their writing from the ancient civilizations of the Near East (Babylonians, Sumerians and Phoenicians, etc.) does not suffice to close the historical gap of about 4,000 years”.
The currently accepted historical theory, taught around the world, indicates that the ancient Greeks learned to write around 800 BC from the Phoenicians.
(Blic/All about archaeology)