Undeciphered writing systems

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

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

Yellow River civilization

• Jiahu symbols – Peiligang culture, from China, c. 6600 – 6200 BC. ^{[1] [2]}
• Damaidi symbols – Damaidi, from China, earliest estimated dates range from the Paleolithic to approximately 3000 years ago.
• Dadiwan symbols – Dadiwan, from China, c. 5800 – 5400 BC.
• Banpo symbols – Yangshao culture, from China, 5th millennium BC. ^[3]
• Jiangzhai symbols – Yangshao culture, from China, 4th millennium BC.
• Dawenkou symbols – Dawenkou culture, c. 2800 – 2500 BC. ^{[4] [5]}
• Longshan symbols – Longshan culture, from China, c. 2500 – 1900 BC. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

Yangtze civilization

• Wucheng symbols – Wucheng culture, from China, c. 1600 BC.

Other areas

• Sawveh – Guangxi, from China; possible proto-writing or writing.

• 
  Jiahu symbols
• 
  Banpo symbols
• 
  Longshan symbols
• 
  Sawveh

Neolithic signs in Europe

• Vinča symbols – Neolithic Europe, from Central Europe and Southeastern Europe, c. 4500 BC – 4000 BC. ^{[9] [10]}

• 
  Vinča symbols

Afro-Eurasian scripts

South Asia

• Indus script, c. 2800 BC to 1900 BC.
• Vikramkhol inscription, c. 1500 BC.
• Megalithic graffiti symbols, c. 1000 BC – 300 AD, possible writing system and possible descendant of Indus script.
• Pushkarasari script – Gandhara, 3rd century BC to 8th century AD.
• Shankhalipi, c. 4th to 8th century.

• 
  Indus script
• 
  Vikramkhol inscription
• 
  Pushkarasari script
• 
  Shankhalipi

West Asia

• Proto-Elamite script, c. 3100 – c. 2900 BC ^[11]
• Jiroft script, c. 2200 BC.
• Byblos syllabary – the city of Byblos, c. 1700 BC.
• Trojan script – the city of Troy, 2600 BC – 1850 BC

• 
  Proto-Elamite script
• 
  Byblos syllabary

East Asia

• Ba–Shu scripts, 5th to 4th century BC.
• Khitan large script and Khitan small script – Khitan, 10th century, not fully deciphered.

• 
  Ba script
• 
  Khitan large script
• 
  Khitan small script

Southeast Asia

• Singapore Stone, a fragment of a sandstone slab inscribed with an ancient Southeast Asian script, perhaps Old Javanese or Sanskrit. At least 13th century, and possibly as early as 10th to 11th century.

• 
  Singapore Stone

Central Asia

• Oxus script, c. 2200 BC.
• Issyk inscription, Kazakhstan, c. 4th century BC.
• Kushan script, c. 2nd century BC – 7th century AD, partially deciphered.

• 
  Issyk inscription

Europe

• Cretan hieroglyphs, c. 2100 BC. ^{[12] [13] [14]}
  • Linear A and Cretan hieroglyphs are scripts from an unknown language, one possibility being a yet to be deciphered Minoan language. ^[15] Several words have been decoded from the scripts, but no definite conclusions on the meanings of the words have been made.
• Phaistos Disc, c. 1850 BC – 1300 BC. ^{[16] [17]}
• Linear A, c. 1800 BC – 1450 BC, partially deciphered. Phonetic transcriptions can be read with some approximation. Scholars can understand some of the words, and get a general idea of the document's contents. ^[18]
• Cypro-Minoan syllabary, c. 1550 BC. ^[19]
• Grakliani Hill script – Grakliani Hill, c. 11th – 10th century BC.
• Paleohispanic scripts.
  • Southwest Paleohispanic script, from c. 700 BC. ^[20]
• Sitovo inscription, c. 300 – 100 BC. ^[21]
• Alekanovo inscription, c. 10th – 11th century.
• Rohonc Codex, c. 1600s – 1800s.
• Voynich manuscript, carbon-dated to the 15th century. ^[22]
• An inscription in the Pisa Baptistery. ^[23]

• 
  Cretan hieroglyphs
• 
  Phaistos disc
• 
  Linear A
• 
  Cypro-Minoan syllabary
• 
  Southwest Paleohispanic Script
• 
  Sitovo inscription

North Africa

• The Starving of Saqqara – possibly dating to pre-dynastic Egypt.
• Wadi el-Hol inscriptions - Found in Egypt, c. 1800 BCE - 1900 BCE, and resembles Proto-Sinaitic script.

Sub-Saharan Africa

• Eghap script – Cameroon, 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. ^[24]

American scripts

Andean Region

• Quipu – Inca Empire and predecessor states, like the Huari Empire, the Paracas Culture 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"). ^[25] 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. ^[26]

• 
  Quipu

Mesoamerica

• Olmec Hieroglyphs, c. 1000 BC – 400 BC, possibly the mother script of Mesoamerica. ^[27] 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. ^[28]
• Classic Gulf Coast Hieroglyphs, Early Classic to Early Postclassic. Possibly an offshoot of Epi-olmec in the Gulf of Mexico. Probably logosyllabic. ^[29]
• 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. ^[30] 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. ^[31]

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).

• 
  La Venta Stele 19
• 
  Olmec Colossal Head in La Venta. Probable name glyph sculpted in its forefront.
• 
  Zapotec script
• 
  Epi-olmec script
• 
  Izapan script
• 
  Cotzumalhuapa script

Oceanian scripts

• Kōhau Rongorongo – Rapa Nui. After 1200, before 1860. Probably logosyllabic.

• 
  Kōhau Rongorongo

Related concepts: texts that are not writing systems

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

1. Zhang, Juzhong; Cui, Qilong (2013). "Chapter 10: The Jiahu Site in the Huai River Area". In Underhill, Anne P. (ed.). A Companion to Chinese Archaeology. John Wiley & Sons. p. 248. ISBN   978-1-118-32578-0.
2. Demattè, Paola (2022). "Early and Middle Neolithic Signs to the Fourth Millennium BCE". The Origins of Chinese Writing. Oxford University Press. pp. 99–148. doi:10.1093/oso/9780197635766.003.0005. ISBN   9780197635766.
3. Woon, Wee Lee (1987). Hànzì de yuánshǐ hé yǎnbiàn漢字的原始和演變[Chinese Writing: Its Origin and Evolution] (in Chinese). University of East Asia, Macau; now by Joint Publishing, Hong Kong. pp. 275–276.
4. Qiu Xigui (裘锡圭) (2000) [1988]. Chinese Writing. Translated by Mattos, Gilbert L.; Norman, Jerry. Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China and The Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California. p. 33. ISBN   978-1-55729-071-7.
5. Woon 1987, p. 27.
6. Tan, Shengmin (2003). 壮泰民族传统文化比较研究[A Comprehensive Comparative Study on Zhuang and Thai Nationalities' Traditional Culture] (in Chinese). Vol. II. Guangxi People's Publishing House. pp. 798–799. ISBN   978-7-219-04915-0.
7. Liang, Tingwang (2000). 壮族文化概论[Overview of the Culture of the Zhuang people] (in Chinese). Guangxi Educational Publishing House. pp. 496–498. ISBN   978-7-5435-2992-2.
8. Encyclopedia of the Zhuang Ethnicity Editorial Committee (April 1993). "本源书" [Sawgoek]. 壮族百科辞典[Encyclopedia of the Zhuang Ethnicity] (in Chinese). Guangxi People's Publishing House. ISBN   978-7-219-02476-8.
9. • Lazarovici, Gheorghe; Merlini, Marco (2016). "Tărtăria Tablets: The Latest Evidence in an Archaeological Thriller". In Nikolova, Lolita; Merlini, Marco; Comsa, Alexandra (eds.). Western-Pontic Culture Ambience and Pattern: In memory of Eugen Comsa. Warsaw, Poland: De Gruyter Open Poland. pp. 53–142.
10. Owens, Gareth A. (1999). "Balkan Neolithic Scripts". Kadmos. 38 (1–2): 114–120. doi:10.1515/kadm.1999.38.1-2.114. S2CID   162088927.
11. Yeganeh, Sepideh Jamshidi; Holakooei, Parviz; Nokandeh, Jebrael; Piran, Sedigheh; Dahl, Jacob L. (2025). "Complexity of proto-elamite administration system: Insights from compositional data from sealings and tablets". Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports . 61 104973.
12. Civitillo, Matilde; Ferrara, Silvia; Meissner, Torsten (2024). "Introduction". The Earliest Script on Crete: Semiotics, Linguistics, Archaeology and Palaeography, Cretan Hieroglyphic (PDF). Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–12.
13. Yule, Paul (1981). Early Cretan Seals: A Study of Chronology. Marburger Studien zur Vor und Frühgeschichte 4. Mainz. doi:10.11588/diglit.3044. ISBN   3-8053-0490-0.
14. Castleden, Rodney (2002). Minoans. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN   1134880642.
15. 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 12 July 2025). ISBN   978-0-19-938113-5.
16. Achterberg, Winfried; Best, Jan; Enzler, Kees; Rietveld, Lia; Woudhuizen, Fred (2004). The Phaistos Disc: A Luwian letter to Nestor. Publications of the Henry Frankfort Foundation. Vol. 13. ISBN   978-90-72067-11-1.
17. Duhoux, Yves (1977). Le disque de phaestos[The Phaistos Disc] (in French). Leuven.
18. Meissner, T., & Steele, P., "Linear A and Linear B: Structural and contextual concerns", Edizioni Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 2017
19. Palaima, Thomas G. (1989). "Cypro-Minoan Scripts: Problems of Historical Context". In Duhoux, Yves; Palaima, Thomas G.; Bennet, John (eds.). Problems in Decipherment. Louvain-La-Neuve: Peeters. pp. 121–188. ISBN   90-6831-177-8.
20. Valério, Miguel (2014). "The Interpretative Limits of the Southwestern Script". Journal of Indo-European Studies . 42 (3/4): 439–467. ProQuest   1628229756.
21. Vassileva, Maya (1999). "A Few Phrygian Onomastic Notes". Epigraphica Anatolica : Zeitschrift für Epigraphik und historische Geographie Anatoliens. 31: 175–180. ISSN   0174-6545.
22. "Mysterious Voynich manuscript is genuine, scientists find". Archived from the original on 2009-12-07. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
23. Cacciafoco, Francesco Perono (1 September 2021). "The Undeciphered Inscription of the Baptistery of Pisa". Academia.edu . Retrieved 22 February 2024.
24. 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)
25. Arellano, Carmen. "Un khipu olvidado: el përon mapuche. Notas acerca de su función". Academia.edu.
26. "Unraveling an Ancient Code Written in Strings". Sapiens. 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
27. Uriarte, María Teresa (2018). Olmecas (in Spanish). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. ISBN   978-88-16-60514-5.
28. Pool, Christopher (2007-02-26). Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-78312-5.
29. 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.
30. Lacadena 2012 "Orígenes de la escritura en Mesoamérica"
31. 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.

External links

• Proto-Elamite (CDLI link)
• Vinča signs (The Old European Script: Further evidence – Shan M. M. Winn)