As civilizations die, so do their forms of writing, top scholars of ancient cultures found in the first study to examine the extinction of writing systems. The research also showed that ancient ...

(CNN) — Researchers have uncovered links between the precursor to the world’s oldest writing system and the mysterious, intricate designs left behind by engraved cylindrical seals that were rolled ...

For centuries, scholars have puzzled over the origins of the world’s first writing system. Now, a study by Italian researchers reveals that some of these earliest proto-cuneiform signs may have ...

We learn about orthographies, the different components that make up a writing system. All societies have spoken or signed language, but not all languages have a written form. Since writing developed ...

For a long time, anthropologists believed that a written language was a hallmark of a society being complex or 'advanced.' A new study on precolonial Mesoamerican societies shows that you can have a ...

Overture to The first writing / Stephen D. Houston -- The possibilty and actuality of writing / John S. Robertson -- Writing systems: a case study in cultural evolution / Bruce G. Trigger -- ...

New discoveries challenge old ideas about the earliest alphabets. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. With so many ancient texts ...

The cuneiform sign for "head" evolved over more than 2,000 years from the pictorial sign on the left to the much abstracted sign on the right. Source: Public Domain/Wikipedia Most of the earliest ...

Let’s get this out of the way immediately: I have a Ph.D. in English, more specifically, in rhetoric and composition. My decades of academic life have been occupied by the study and teaching of ...

Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Sign up for CNN’s Life, But Better newsletter for information and tools designed to improve your well-being. Researchers have uncovered ...