Researchers identified meaningful patterns in lines, engravings, dots, and crosses carved into objects—such as mammoth tusks—dated to as much as 45,000 years ago. The finds come from caves in southern Germany and date to a period shortly before Homo sapiens migrated from Africa to Europe, where they coexisted with Neanderthals.

Until now, the first signs of writing were dated to around 3000 BC

Until now, the prevailing view placed the emergence of the first writing systems around 3000 BC in Mesopotamia, with proto-cuneiform systems, followed by hieroglyphs in Egypt and later systems in China and Mesoamerica. The earliest recorded words are thought to have appeared roughly 5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia.

However, the precise meaning of the symbols found in Germany remains unknown.

Professor Christian Bents of Saarland University, a co-author of the study, argues that “Stone Age sequences of marks constitute an early alternative form of writing.” He explains that the analysis shows Paleolithic hunter-gatherers developed a symbol system with “a statistically comparable information density to the earliest proto-cuneiform tablets of ancient Mesopotamia—40,000 years later.”

Researcher Eva Dutkiewicz from the Museum of Prehistory and Early History Berlin notes that the findings demonstrate Stone Age humans possessed cognitive abilities comparable to those of modern humans. “So far, we have only scratched the surface of what can be revealed about symbol sequences across a wide variety of objects,” she says.

More than 3,000 symbols analyzed across 260 objects

The research team analyzed more than 3,000 symbols on 260 objects, aiming to identify what it calls the “DNA of writing.” Some of the finds come from the Lonetal cave system, a 37-kilometer cave network in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg.

On a small mammoth figurine carved from ivory, researchers recorded carefully engraved rows of crosses and dots. On another object—known as the “worshipper” from the Geissenklosterle Cave in the Ach Valley—they identified rows of dots and engravings on an ivory plaque depicting a hybrid human-lion figure.

According to the researchers, the arrangement of the marks—especially the dots on the figurine’s back—suggests these patterns functioned as a means of communication. The high repetition of symbols and the predictability of their sequences are considered “comparable to much later proto-cuneiform systems,” Bents says. Particularly dense patterns appeared on figurines compared with tools.

The team believes Paleolithic people deliberately engraved these symbols to convey messages and ideas, indicating that the need to communicate information was already significant at that time.

“They were skilled craftspeople. It appears they carried these objects with them. Many fit very well in the hand, at a size suitable for the palm,” Dutkiewicz adds.

The study was published in the scientific journal PNAS.