Undeciphered writing system
An undeciphered writing system is a written form of language that is currently not understood. In this context, a writing system is used to mean a series of glyphs; these glyphs may represent writing in a language. However, this is not known until they are deciphered.
Not being able to decipher a text can have several reasons:
- The language may be a language isolate (there are few or no similar languages that still exist)
- There may be very few texts in the given language
- What is considered a text in a language really is not: it may just be decorations, but the symbols have no semantic meaning.
There is also the concept of false writing systems: these are constructed sets of symbols that are meant to represent a writing system, but that do not.
Examples
- Vinča script, from 7th or 8th century BC Europe
- Dispilio Tablet, from Western Macedonia, Greece, 6th century BC
- Phaistos disc, from 2nd century BC Crete.
- Southwest Paleohispanic script, found on the Iberian peninsula, about 700 BC
- Sitovo inscription from Bulgaria
- Cascajal Block, Olmec civilization, about 9th century
- Numidian language - the script has been almost entirely deciphered, but the language is unknown.
- Rongorongo, inscriptions from Easter Island
- The Voynich manuscript, 15th century
- Singapore Stone
- Newton Stone, considered to be a forgery, by many
Undeciphered Writing System Media
Seals showing Indus script, an ancient undeciphered writing system
Page 32 of the Voynich manuscript, a medieval manuscript written with an undeciphered writing system
SVG version of Image:Jiahu writing.gif using Inkscape. Examples of the script found at the Jiahu archaeological site
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Eleven characters found on a pottery shard from Dinggong (Shandong), China, probably from Longshan culture.
广西出土先秦石器、陶器刻画文、刻画符号示例。
The text of the Dispilio tablet
Drawing of a clay vessel unearthed near Vinča.
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Indus script
Bikramkhol Inscription of Odisha
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