Viggen Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Chinese archaeologists studying ancient rock carvings say they have evidence that modern Chinese script is thousands of years older than previously thought. State media say researchers identified more than 2,000 pictorial symbols dating back 8,000 years, on cliff faces in the north-west of the country. full article at the BBC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Neil Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Are there any photographs available, or drawings of these characters? I read somewhere that Chinese characters were influenced by middle eastern cuneiform, but the word 'influenced' is significant - cuneiform probably just inspired development of an already functioning system of writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmo Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Would be interesting to know what they say with those letters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Dalby Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Would be interesting to know what they say with those letters. Would be interesting to know what language lies behind them. Even now, Chinese characters can be used for more than one language. Was the language spoken at that location, 8,000 years ago, a direct ancestor of Chinese, more distantly related, or even not related at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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