Vinča signs (Danubian proto-writing)
Signos de Vinča (protoescritura danubiana)
- Date
- c. 5700-4000 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Vinča-Belo Brdo, Grocka, Belgrade, Serbia
- Credited to
- Vinča culture
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A set of signs incised on pottery and figurines of the Vinča culture, some systematically repeated. They have been proposed as one of the oldest forms of proto-writing, although it has not been shown that they encode language.
Their value as writing is strongly disputed: most specialists see them as symbolic or ownership marks with no demonstrated grammar. The Tărtăria tablets (Romania), with related signs, are not included here because they belong to another country.
What it led to
- the hypothesis of a 'Danube script' (Gimbutas, Haarmann)
- debate on the origins of writing in Neolithic Europe