Example of the Jiahu symbols
Jiahu symbols (贾湖契刻符号) refer to the 16 distinct markings on prehistoric artifacts found in Jiahu, a neolithic Peiligang culture site found in Henan, China, and excavated in 1999 C.E. The Jiahu site dates to 6600 BC; some archaeologists[who?] believe the markings to be similar (although without necessarily having the same meaning) to some characters used in a much later writing system related to the oracle bone script (e.g. similar markings of 目 “eye”, 日 “sun; day”), but there is currently no consensus. A 2003 report in Archaeology interpreted them "not as writing itself, but as features of a lengthy period of sign-use which led eventually to a fully-fledged system of writing." [1] The earliest evidence[citation needed] for a corpus of writing in the oracle bone script dates much later to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 – 1046 BC).
- ^ Li, X; Garman Harbottle, Juzhong Zhang, Changsui Wang (2003). The earliest writing? Sign use in the seventh millennium BC at Jiahu, Henan Province, China. 77. pp. 31–44.
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