Lines, dots and other symbols painted in caves during the last Ice Age may be the earliest example of proto writing – symbols that communicate a small amount of information like an emoji.

The tiny cuts and grooves that decorate some ancient human artifacts are not just pretty accidents, according to some archaeologists. They could be early signs of creativity and symbolic thinking in ...

Paleolithic 'Sanctuary' Containing Rock Art From 15,000 Years Ago Discovered in Spain. Published Feb 10, ... horses and oxen—although some are simply abstract symbols or shapes.

For Paleolithic humans, horses were an important food source and an artistic inspiration. ... Lines, dots, and Y-shaped symbols occur in about 66% of animal art from the late Paleolithic.

38,000-year-old carving includes enigmatic “punctuation” pattern New finding suggests that paleolithic Europeans shared a common set of symbols.

A flint flake from the Middle Paleolithic of Crimea was likely engraved symbolically by a skilled Neanderthal hand, according to a study published May 2, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE ...

Postholes discovered at Paleolithic settlements throughout Europe also suggest that many dwellings at the time had ... 120,000-Year-Old Cattle Bone Carvings May Be World's Oldest Surviving Symbols.