Oldest hieroglyphs discovered in Damaidi

Another important discovery was made in the Damaidi cliff paintings which had once caught the attention of the world. According to the examination by ancient writing experts China's oldest hieroglyphs have been discovered among Damaidi cliff paintings.

The surveys and studies by cliff painting experts at Northwest No.2 University for Nationalities found 3,172 groups including over 8,400 individual cliff painting figures at Damaidi of Ningxia.

The figures feature celestial bodies, heaven, earth, gods, hunting and pasture, dancing and sacrifice etc. A dating method using Xanthoria elegans determined that the early cliff paintings were 18,000 to 10,000 years old. Experts also conducted in-depth studies on individual figures of the cliff paintings.

Experts believe that many of the hieroglyphic and abstract signs have acquired the key elements of ancient writings. As learned, among the individual figures more than 1,500 hieroglyphs have been found with only a small part of them deciphered.

By People's Daily Online