These objects belonged to both the practical and religious spheres, since weaving was in ancient times described as a gift from divinity, most commonly goddesses.Ĭatalog of signs collected by Marija Gimbutas, showing core signs at left and derivatives at right formed by additional dots, lines, curves or alternate orientations from “The Civilization of the Goddess.”Īny discussion of early writing of course brings up the question: what IS writing? The answer will depend on who you ask. The other category of objects carrying these inscriptions were spindle whorls and loom weights. These objects were found not only in public areas but around private hearths, suggesting their use in home-based devotions. Gimbutas wrote that the objects most commonly showing these signs looked to be ritual vessels, altars such as small tables, plaques, and most intriguingly, small anthropomorphic sculptures, usually female and in great numbers. It was electrifying to think that the roots of writing might actually be found in these much older cultures. These marks looked like V, X, T, C, I and other letters to me. In it was a chapter entitled “The Sacred Script.” There I found a chart of ancient marks that had been found in what Gimbutas termed Old European cultures that flourished 8500 to 5500 years ago in Southeastern Europe. The first inkling I had that there might be earlier marks that could be referred to as a kind of writing was several years ago, when I happened across a book written in 1991 by Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess. This assumption has been basically unchallenged for a very long time, but that is slowly changing.

The reason for its development, we were told, was to keep accounts of economic transactions. In what dark mists of prehistory did writing begin? When I was young, we were taught in school that Sumerian cuneiform was the first writing, developed in about 2700 BCE and therefore the first indicator of a civilized culture.

If “letters are things, not pictures of things,” as Eric Gill wrote, then even our seemingly phonetic-only alphabet can be seen as rich with symbolism and story.

The comb-like abstract mark appearing above the horse can be seen in cave paintings for centuries afterward there also appears to be something like a quill in the horse’s belly. Often called the ‘Chinese Horse’ for its resemblance to ancient Chinese paintings. Cave painting from the Lascaux complex in Dordogne, France.

Sacred Display by Miriam Robbins Dexter