Open AccessIf the Vinča script once really existed who could have written or read it?
Author(s) -
Andrej Starović
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
documenta praehistorica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1854-2492
pISSN - 1408-967X
DOI - 10.4312/dp.32.19
Subject(s) - inscribed figure , sign (mathematics) , context (archaeology) , meaning (existential) , notation , function (biology) , set (abstract data type) , history , sign system , semiotics , prehistory , visual arts , literature , art , sociology , linguistics , computer science , archaeology , epistemology , communication , philosophy , mathematics , mathematical analysis , geometry , evolutionary biology , biology , programming language
The paper considers about the possible meaning and social function of signs and symbols from Vinča, and used in Danube Neolithic society. Many scholars have tried to answer two main questions about the nature of the signs: first, does they form a system, and (if so), could such a system be interpreted as an original prehistoric script? A new approach to the problem, focused on an archaeological reconstruction of the basic function of ceramic objects bearing the signs, offers strong evidence that the signs were used in the context of ordinary domestic life, much more than in ritual and/or ceremonial contexts. An important set of data suggests that practically every single Vinča household had inscribed objects and that many of the signs and sign groups are uniform, just as in organized writing. Consequently, such a complex notation system could have been a form of written communication throughout Vinča society