"We are perhaps seeing the first glimpses of a rudimentary language system."

via newscientist.com

Not the cave paintings, but other symbols and "cave signs from 146 sites in France, covering 25,000 years of prehistory from 35,000 to 10,000 years ago.

"What emerged was startling: 26 signs, all drawn in the same style, appeared again and again at numerous sites (see illustration). Admittedly, some of the symbols are pretty basic, like straight lines, circles and triangles, but the fact that many of the more complex designs also appeared in several places hinted to von Petzinger and Nowell that they were meaningful - perhaps even the seeds of written communication...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527481.200-the-writing-on-the-cave-wall.html?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=mg20527481.200

Posted via web from Fred's posterous