DPA/The Local/jcw
Posted on 04/16/2012 9:55:56 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists have found the oldest engravings of letters ever to be discovered in central Germany, officials from the area announced on Thursday.
The ancient letters, called runes, were scratched onto a 12.5 centimetre-long comb by Germanic settlers in the second century, scientists working on the site in Saxony-Anhalt believe.
The letters spell out "Kama", meaning comb, the president of the state Heritage and Archaeology Management Office, Sven Ostritz, said on Thursday.
It is the oldest ever example of runic writing to be found in that part of the country, he added.
Germanic languages used the runic alphabet to write before the Latin alphabet became widespread. The earliest runic engravings have been dated back to 150AD.
Engravings from a similar period have been found in the Märkische Schweiz region near Berlin, and in western Ukraine, Ostritz revealed.
The comb, which is made from deer antler, was lifted out of its resting place nearly two metres below the ground several years ago. But it had been tucked away until recently, when scientists cleaned it off and put it under a microscope to examine the writing.
It had to be painstakingly re-assembled by the team though, as it was originally found broken into pieces. Historians have been working on the ancient Germanic settlement where the comb was found since 2002.
(Excerpt) Read more at thelocal.de ...
DPA/The Local/jcw
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One strand of an ancient story. |
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Wouldn’t they have known it was a comb without having to write “comb” on it?
“Wouldn’t they have known it was a comb without having to write “comb” on it?”
That was in case some occupants of the British Isles ever found it.
“Wouldn’t they have known it was a comb without having to write “comb” on it?”
That was in case some occupants of the British Isles ever found it.
Why do boxes of toothpicks have instructions?
LOL!
I don't know but they don't write "Toothpick" on the side of them.
The comb is labeled “comb”? Is there a Trade Mark?
There are some teeth missing too. “Kama” translated means “comb made in China”.
That makes sense now.
I’d buy that.
Reminds me of the scene in “Armed and Dangerous” with John Candy working security at the landfill. “Hey guys - I found a comb!”
When we did make them, they were made of Birch. Have no idea what kind of wood the Chicoms use to make them now.
I remember the old Looney Tunes Cartoon where they shaved down on whole Tree to make one toothpick. Nowadays, the same cartoon would be banished from Network TV so Al Gore wouldn’t have a Coronary.
Is it for brushing out pet fur? Because you might expect to find runes on a cat-a-comb.
There were other words. The entire sentence was, "Do not eat this comb or use it while climbing a ladder." Apparently, there had been a lawsuit..
>>Why do boxes of toothpicks have instructions?<<
Wonko the Sane asked the same question until his predicable demise.
For a dollar?
Runes are interesting in that they are basically geometric indicating they were originally carved in wood.
Speculation is that runes were origianlly carved in wood that has since rotted away, makes historical determinations, such as age of the letter form and provence of origin, difficult to determine. Stone lasts longer and there do exist runic phrases carved in stele, but they are primarily in western Europe.
Interestingly enough, the magnificent marble temples that the ancient Greeks built exhibited in their structures an origin in wood, which was simply copied when carved out of marble. Parts of a building along the eaves, primarily dentil ranges, triglyphs and metopes, would have had structural purposes in a wooden edifice that did not carry over to a stone structure. The marble colums, which originally would have been wood, did serve as supports for the roof.
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