Stone Age Britons may have had prehistoric secret code
Stone Age Britons may have had prehistoric secret code
Mysterious markings on 11,000-year-old pendant hint at a system of long and short lines to represent events or objects
David Keys Archaeology Correspondent |
@davidmkeys |
Thursday 25 February 2016|
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The sacred prehistoric stone pendant, discovered by archaeologists in Yorkshire. It was probably worn by a shaman carrying out hunting-related rituals Harry Robson
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Mysterious markings engraved on an 11,000 year old pendant found in Yorkshire suggest that the area’s ancient Mesolithic inhabitants used a system of long and short lines to represent events or objects in numerical form.
The markings appear to have been inscribed on the pendant in a deliberately faint way – and archaeologists suspect that that may have been in order to render many of them almost invisible when not being examined closely.
The site they were discovered on – at Star Carr in the Vale of Pickering – was used for ritual activities – probably ceremonial dances performed by prehistoric shamans.
Other objects, found at the site in earlier excavations, include 21 ritual headdresses made from red deer skulls and antlers – and a further half dozen similar headdresses, unearthed there over the past three years.
More:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/stone-age-britons-may-have-had-prehistoric-secret-code-a6896596.html
