# List the oldest dated graffiti you've seen. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 16, 2000, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-oldest-dated-graffiti-youve-seen/29637 "2000-08-16T23:04:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-oldest-dated-graffiti-youve-seen/29637/21 "2000-08-17T15:36:00Z")
“1620. On Plymouth Rock.” —Actually, that date was inscribed on the stone in the 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![Konrad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f475e1/32.png) [@Konrad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Konrad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-oldest-dated-graffiti-youve-seen/29637/22 "2000-08-17T15:58:01Z")
I am amazed, o wall, that you have not collapsed and fallen, since you must bear the tedious stupidities of so many scrawlers. ---
**Author:** ![Konrad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f475e1/32.png) [@Konrad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Konrad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-oldest-dated-graffiti-youve-seen/29637/23 "2000-08-17T16:00:35Z")
That last one was of course from Pompeii. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-oldest-dated-graffiti-youve-seen/29637/24 "2000-08-17T16:11:28Z")
“I am amazed, o wall, that you have not collapsed and fallen, since you must bear the tedious stupidities of so many scrawlers.” —And here I thought that was the motto of the SD\ **Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-oldest-dated-graffiti-youve-seen/29637/25 "2000-08-17T16:30:52Z") My grandmother used to buy old houses, fix them up and sell them. I helped her when she papered or painted. We would scrape layer upon layer of paper and paint away to the bare wall, and sometimes find where the origional owners had signed the wall. Once, I found a inscription dated 1878 that had little caricatures of the occupants drawn on the plaster and a charming little poem beneath about each. We had intended to paint that wall, but I told grandma that it would be wrong to destroy it, and insisted that we paper over it instead. Now, whenever I paper, I always write on the wall so that the people who come after me, maybe years and years from now will have a cute little memorial about my family too. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-oldest-dated-graffiti-youve-seen/29637/26 "2000-08-17T18:38:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > \*\*Yep. But I kind of like this question, so I’m going to take the liberty of rephrasing it. > > What is the oldest known instance of graffiti? For purposes of this thread, we’ll define graffiti to exclude such things as cave markings and ask about things written on actual walls which were written by other than the builder/owners. > > _Then_ we’ll move it to IMHO ;). \*\* Thanks to everyone for your responses. However, I should have stated more explicitly what I thought was obvious in the OP: I’m not after “famous” graffiti, or graffiti which exists on the world’s tourist magnets. I’m after little odds and ends of personal history from little known corners of the world. I’m not sure it belongs in IMHO any more than it belongs here because it’s not opinions that I’m polling for. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-oldest-dated-graffiti-youve-seen/29637/27 "2000-08-17T22:12:28Z")
Fair enough, **javaman** , I’ll move the thread to MPSIMS for more sharing. In the meantime, thank you for your indulgence whilst we (and I hope you) learned some really cool stuff about graffiti throughout history. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-oldest-dated-graffiti-youve-seen/29637.md?page=1)