Tartaria tablets

One of the Tartaria tablets

The three Tărtăria tablets are believed by some to be a very early form of writing, over a thousand years older than the Sumerian and Egyptian writings. They were created around 4500 BC by the so-called Vinca culture and were mamed after Tărtăria, Transylvania, Romania, where they were found.

The script combine pictograms with abstract symbols which some experts consider to be comparable in design to the early Sumerian writings, while others consider them to be simply random scribbles. Their meaning (if any) is unknown. If they do comprise a script, it is also not known what kind of writing system they represent.