# Bronze Age Enigma Tablets--Unreadable Messages From Pre-History

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-age-enigma-tablets-unreadable-messages-from-pre-history/1032673>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 29, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-age-enigma-tablets-unreadable-messages-from-pre-history/1032673 "2026-08-29T17:23:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-age-enigma-tablets-unreadable-messages-from-pre-history/1032673/1 "2026-08-29T17:23:03Z")

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Looks like we have a new Roman Dodecahedron -level mystery.  
Mysterious clay or stone tablets, covered in dots, square & triangles, from before recorded history.  
[https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/76785](https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/76785)

> The tablets, usually made of clay but sometimes of stone, feature incised lines and impressions of geometric shapes including triangles, squares and circles. The oldest of the tablets are predominately characterized by impressed dots.

> ```
> They have been interpreted as possible calendars, counting tools, or forms of proto-writing. A ritual function has not been ruled out either, extending to the hypothesis that they might have been used as a sort of sacred amulet. One of the most intriguing interpretations today, however, links them to the management of trade, suggesting a function comparable, in some respects, to modern shipping documents used to identify specific goods (perhaps metal).
> 
> ```

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-age-enigma-tablets-unreadable-messages-from-pre-history/1032673/2 "2026-08-29T17:54:38Z")

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Here’s your pull quote in not-screwed-up form:

> The tablets, usually made of clay but sometimes of stone, feature incised lines and impressions of geometric shapes including triangles, squares and circles. The oldest of the tablets are predominately characterized by impressed dots.
> 
> They have been interpreted as possible calendars, counting tools, or forms of proto-writing. A ritual function has not been ruled out either, extending to the hypothesis that they might have been used as a sort of sacred amulet. One of the most intriguing interpretations today, however, links them to the management of trade, suggesting a function comparable, in some respects, to modern shipping documents used to identify specific goods (perhaps metal).

(You can’t leave embedded spaces at the front of a paragraph or a quote.)

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**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-age-enigma-tablets-unreadable-messages-from-pre-history/1032673/3 "2026-08-29T18:06:22Z")

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Metal? **Ea-nāṣir** was still ripping people off, I betcha.

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**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-age-enigma-tablets-unreadable-messages-from-pre-history/1032673/4 "2026-08-30T04:23:34Z")

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He was good at what he did.