Researchers have discovered and analyzed the world’s oldest geometric patterns in a 60,000-year-old ostrich egg fragment, revealing the complex cognition that ultimately enabled Homo sapiens to invent writing.

A recent study published in PLOS One found that our ancestors created a “geometric grammar” in ancient water vessels made from these shells once they set out from Africa.

The surface shape resembles a series of boxes, diagonal bands, grids, or diamonds. Upon deeper analysis, the study showed that these markings reflect “a true cognitive organization of form, based on parallelism, orthogonality, and the repetition of lines and regular patterns.”

Research coordinator Silvia Ferrara described these patterns as “a surprisingly structured geometric idea.” This suggests that our earliest ancestors engaged in abstract thinking by applying geometry to create symbol systems that were rooted in mathematics and were precursors to writing.

Although these traces may seem insignificant to the untrained eye, research has revealed an impressive thought process behind these “visual-spatial forms.”

fetal visual grammar

In an interesting new study funded by the University of Bologna, researchers collected 112 marked fragments of water vessels from two archaeological sites in South Africa. They showed how even the simplest forms reveal highly complex mental operations through detailed reconstructions of lines, angles, and trajectories.

Through geometric and statistical analysis, the team concluded that 80% of the configurations showed consistent spatial regularity. The use of parallel lines, angles close to 90 degrees, hatched bands, grids, and diamonds indicate cognitive operations such as rotation, translation, repetition, and “embedding,” or the ability to construct markers of hierarchical levels within the same plane.

According to Ferrara, these sculptures demonstrate a “mastery of geometric relationships.” They were able to do not just repeat symbols, but rather “actual visuo-spatial planning, as if the author already had the overall image of the figure in his mind before sculpting.”

These guys weren’t just sketching randomly. Rather, they repeated the same mental operations between different shells. The study also focuses on the complex mental processes involved in the simple act of raising your arm to draw, an act that requires conscious intention, subconscious planning, and movement execution.

In some cases, like this archeology news, The minds behind these symbols lay out the basic framework before “riffing” on an idea and visualizing the final product before producing.

Cognitive processes behind adaptation

This research is far from rudimentary, investigating the neurodynamics behind these visual representations and suggesting the existence of abstract thinking. This is an important step in the evolution of visual representation. human thinking.

In particular, by the time Homo sapiens left Africa, it already had an amazing ability to organize visual space and transform simple shapes into complex systems.

“Simple shapes complex system Following defined rules is a deep human trait that has characterized our history for thousands of years, from the creation of ornaments to the development of products. symbol system And ultimately, writing,” study author Valentina Disembrini said in the paper. press release.

This particular ability to construct and manipulate symbols reflects the cognitive plasticity that allowed Homo sapiens to adapt and thrive. IFL Science.

The research is published Published in PLOS One under the title “Earliest Geometries: A Cognitive Investigation of Howiesons Poort Engraved Ostrich Eggshells.”