Jiahu symbols
Signos grabados de Jiahu
- Date
- c. 6600 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Jiahu, Wuyang, Henan, China
- Credited to
- Peiligang culture (Jiahu)
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
About a dozen signs incised on tortoise shells and bones deposited in graves, some resembling later Chinese characters. They are among the earliest uses of conventional graphic marks in East Asia.
There is a gap of more than 5,000 years with Shang writing; most specialists consider them signs or ownership marks, not writing.
What it led to
- debate over the remote origins of Chinese writing
- ritual use of tortoise shells, a precursor to Shang divination