[Stones] Chinese writing '8,000 years old'

[Ric]

Thanks Tim - this is amazing: are there pictures of
the script, please?

bests,

Ric

--- Tim P <thehermitoftillywhim at tiscali.co.uk> wrote:

>   Chinese writing '8,000 years old'
> *Chinese archaeologists studying ancient rock
> carvings say they have 
> evidence that modern Chinese script is thousands of
> years older than 
> previously thought. *
> 
> State media say researchers identified more than
> 2,000 pictorial symbols 
> dating back 8,000 years, on cliff faces in the
> north-west of the country.
> 
> They say many of these symbols bear a strong
> resemblance to later forms 
> of ancient Chinese characters.
> 
> Scholars had thought Chinese symbols came into use
> about 4,500 years ago.
> 
> The Damaidi carvings, first discovered in the 1980s,
> cover 15 sq km (5.8 
> square miles) and feature more than 8,000 individual
> figures including 
> the sun, moon, stars, gods and scenes of hunting or
> grazing.
> 
> "We have found some symbols shaped like both
> pictures and characters," 
> Li Xiangshi, a cliff carving expert at the North
> University of 
> Nationalities in Ningxia Hui autonomous region, told
> Xinhua news agency.
> 
> "The pictographs are similar to the ancient
> hieroglyphs of Chinese 
> characters and many can be identified as ancient
> characters."
> 
> Until the discovery, the earliest characters
> included 4,500-year-old 
> inscriptions on pottery from Henan province in
> central China.
> 
> Story from BBC NEWS:
>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6669569.stm
> 
> Published: 2007/05/18 13:19:31 GMT
> 
> © BBC MMVII