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Undeciphered writing systems

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Seals showing Indus script, an ancient undeciphered writing system
Page 32 of the Voynich manuscript, a medieval manuscript written with an undeciphered writing system

Many undeciphered writing systems exist today; most date back several thousand years, although some more modern examples do exist. The term "writing systems" is used here loosely to refer to groups of glyphs which appear to have representational symbolic meaning, but which may include "systems" that are largely artistic in nature and are thus not examples of actual writing.

The difficulty in deciphering these systems can arise from a lack of known language descendants or from the languages being entirely isolated, from insufficient examples of text having been found and even (such as in the case of Vinča) from the question of whether the symbols actually constitute a writing system at all. Some researchers have claimed to be able to decipher certain writing systems, such as those of Epi-Olmec, Phaistos and Indus texts; but to date, these claims have not been widely accepted within the scientific community, or confirmed by independent researchers, for the writing systems listed here (unless otherwise specified).

Proto-writing

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Certain forms of proto-writing remain undeciphered and, because of a lack of evidence and linguistic descendants, it is quite likely that they will never be deciphered.

Neolithic signs in China

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Yellow River civilization

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Yangtze civilization

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Other areas

  • SawvehGuangxi, from China; possible proto-writing or writing.

Neolithic signs in Europe

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Afro-Eurasian scripts

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South Asia

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West Asia

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East Asia

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Southeast Asia

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Central Asia

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Europe

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North Africa

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Sub-Saharan Africa

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  • Eghap scriptCameroon, c. 1900, partially deciphered.
  • Ancient inscriptions in Somalia – According to the Ministry of Information and National Guidance of Somalia, inscriptions can be found on various old Taalo Tiiriyaad structures. These are enormous stone mounds found especially in northeastern Somalia. Among the main sites where these Taalo are located are Xabaalo Ambiyad in Alula District, Baar Madhere in Beledweyne District, and Harti Yimid in Las Anod District.[5]

American scripts

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Andean Region

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  • QuipuInca Empire and predecessor states, like the Huari Empire or the Caral-Supe Civilization, c. 2600 BC – 20th century. It was used, among other peoples, by Quechua speakers (who called it "Khipu"), Aymara speakers ("Chinu") and Mapuche speakers ("Püron").[6] It could possibly be a writing system or a set of writing systems, since two Quechua words have been recently deciphered in 2017. These decipherments apparently show that linguistic usage of Quipus followed a logosyllabic pattern.[7]

Mesoamerica

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  • Olmec Hieroglyphs, c. 1000 BC – 400 BC, possibly the mother script of Mesoamerica.[8] Thought to be logosyllabic like all of its descendants.
  • Zapotec Hieroglyphs, c. 500 BC – 800 AD, possibly logosyllabic.
  • Ñuiñe Hieroglyphs, c. 400 AD – 800 AD. Similar to Zapotec and possibly an offshoot of it in the Mixteca Baja. Possibly logosyllabic.
  • Epi-olmec Hieroglyphs, c. 400 BC – 500 AD, apparently logosyllabic.
  • Izapan Hieroglyphs, Late Preclassic, probably an offshoot of Epi-olmec in the Pacific Coast and the direct ancestor to Lowland Maya Hieroglyphs. Probably logosyllabic.[9]
  • Classic Gulf Coast Hieroglyphs, Early Classic to Early Postclassic. Possibly an offshoot of Epi-olmec in the Gulf of Mexico. Probably logosyllabic.[10]
  • Teotihuacan Hieroglyphs, c. 100 BC – 700 AD, possibly a logosyllabary. Possibly inspired from the Zapotec script, and itself being the probable ancestor of the Postclassic Mixteca-Puebla Script.
  • Cotzumalhuapa Hieroglyphs, 0 CE – 1000 CE. A script in the Lower Pacific Coast possibly derived from the writing system at Teotihuacan.[11] Probably a logosyllabary.
  • Epiclassic/Early Postclassic Hieroglyphs of El Tajín, Xochicalco, Cacaxtla, Teotenango, Tula and Chichén Itzá. Probably logosyllabic. Descended from Teotihuacan Hieroglyphs and mother script of the Mixteca-Puebla Hieroglyphs.[12]

Virtually all Mesoamerican Glyphic Scripts remain undeciphered, with the only exceptions being Lowland Maya Hieroglyphs and Mixteca-Puebla Hieroglyphs (represented by several regional glyphic traditions used in the whole of Postclassic Mesoamerica outside the Maya Lowlands, the most well known of which are the Aztec Script and the Mixtec Script). All Mesoamerican writing systems are thought by linguist Alfonso Lacadena (Lacadena 2012) to descend from Olmec Glyphs, with it splitting in the Late Formative into three branches: Epi-olmec, Zapotec and Central Mexican (from this branch would eventually emerge the Teotihuacan Glyphic Script).

Oceanian scripts

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One very similar concept is that of false writing systems, which appear to be writing but are not. False writing cannot be deciphered because it has no semantic meaning. These particularly include asemic writing created for artistic purposes. One prominent example is the Codex Seraphinianus.

Another similar concept is that of undeciphered cryptograms, or cipher messages. These are not writing systems per se, but a disguised form of another text. Of course any cryptogram is intended to be undecipherable by anyone except the intended recipient so vast numbers of these exist, but a few examples have become famous and are listed in list of ciphertexts.

References

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  1. ^ Salgarella, Ester (2022). "Linear A". In Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony; Eidinow, Esther (eds.). Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8927 (inactive 2024-07-29). ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2024 (link)
  2. ^ [1] Meissner, T., & Steele, P., "Linear A and Linear B: Structural and contextual concerns", Edizioni Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 2017
  3. ^ "Mysterious Voynich manuscript is genuine, scientists find". Archived from the original on 2009-12-07. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  4. ^ Cacciafoco, Francesco Perono (1 September 2021). "The Undeciphered Inscription of the Baptistery of Pisa". Academia.edu. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  5. ^ Ministry of Information and National Guidance, Somalia, The writing of the Somali language: A Great Landmark in Our Revolutionary History, (Ministry of Information and National Guidance: 1974)
  6. ^ Arellano, Carmen. "Un khipu olvidado: el përon mapuche. Notas acerca de su función". Academia.edu.
  7. ^ "Unraveling an Ancient Code Written in Strings". Sapiens. 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  8. ^ Uriarte, María Teresa (2018). Olmecas (in Spanish). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. ISBN 978-88-16-60514-5.
  9. ^ Pool, Christopher (2007-02-26). Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-78312-5.
  10. ^ Peregrine, Peter N.; Ember, Melvin (2012-12-06). Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Volume 5: Middle America. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4615-0525-9.
  11. ^ Lacadena 2012 "Orígenes de la escritura en Mesoamérica"
  12. ^ Clemmensen, Mikkel Bøg; Helmke, Christophe (2023-06-08). Western Mesoamerican Calendars and Writing Systems: Proceedings of the Copenhagen Roundtable. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-80327-486-7.
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