answersLogoWhite

0

Writing systems were preceded by proto-writing, systems of ideographic and/or early mnemonic symbols. The best known examples are: * Jiahu Script, symbols on tortoise shells in Jiahu, ca. 6600 BC * Vinča script (Tărtăria tablets), ca. 4500 BC * Early Indus script, ca. 3500 BC The invention of the first writing systems is roughly contemporary with the beginning of the Bronze Age in the late Neolithic of the late 4th millennium BC. The Sumerian archaic cuneiform script and the Egyptian hieroglyphs are generally considered the earliest writing systems, both emerging out of their ancestral proto-literate symbol systems from 3400-3200 BC with earliest coherent texts from about 2600 BC. Though the Ge'ez writing system of Ethiopia is considered Semitic it is likely of semi-independent origin, having roots in the Meroitic Sudanese ideogram system.[1] The Chinese script likely developed independently of the Middle Eastern scripts, around 1600 BC. The pre-Columbian Mesoamerican writing systems (including among others Olmec and Maya scripts) are also generally believed to have had independent origins. It is thought that the first true alphabetic writing appeared around 2000 BC, as a representation of language developed for Semitic slaves in Egypt by Egyptians (see History of the alphabet). Most other alphabets in the world today either descended from this one innovation, many via the Phoenician alphabet, or were directly inspired by its design.

User Avatar

Wiki User

16y ago

What else can I help you with?

Related Questions

What is the time before there was writing?

That is called a society's 'prehistoric' era.


What do you call the writing of prehistoric people?

Prehistory was when there was no writing; any period of history without information written down is called prehistory. The Egyptians were the first to use a form of writing: Hieroglyphics.


What is the difference between prehistoric and historic?

Prehistoric: when writing has not been invented and no records were kept Historic: when writing started and records were kept


What single factor make prehistoric cultures different from those that followed them?

Writing


Is the ancient Rosetta stone a artifact?

No, if it has writing on it it's not prehistoric.


How did the mogolians surived?

The early man in prehistoric times they were called prehistoric.


What is another name for the Prehistoric Era?

Another name for the Prehistoric Era is the Stone Age.


What prehistoric societies did not leave behind?

They left nothing behind in writing. The difference between 'prehistoric' and later peoples is that we call them 'prehistoric ' if no written information has been left to us by them or about them.


What are the scientists who study prehistoric times called?

two types of scientists who specialize in prehistoric times are 1) Paleontologists, they studied dinosaurs and such and 2) Paleobotonists, they study prehistoric plants.


What is the name for the time before systems of writing and record keeping were developed?

Prehistoric


What marked the end of the prehistoric period and the beginning of the historic period?

the invention of writing


Who discovered nuts?

It was before there was language and writing (prehistoric) so there is no way to answer. Sorry-