Decoding ancient scripts is a remarkable journey into humanity’s past, unearthing forgotten tales and cultures. The cryptic symbols, etched onto stone, parchment, or clay, often remain as the only ...

Starting in the the 1950s, archaeologists conducting excavations in central Asia have discovered several dozen inscriptions in a mysterious script. The writing system was coined “ecriture inconnue” in ...

Researchers have managed to decode an ancient script that scholars have been unable to understand for decades. In a study published in the journal Transactions of the Philological Society, a team of ...

When archaeologists on a dig in southern Portugal last year flipped over a heavy chunk of slate and saw writing not used for more than 2,500 years, they were elated. The enigmatic pattern of inscribed ...

Deciphering a previously unknown script could unlock a better understanding of the ancient Kushan Empire of Central Asia. The unknown Kushan script was found in the 1950s, but only understood this ...

In 1908, an archaeologist in Crete discovered a small clay disk bearing unknown symbols. Now known as the Phaistos disk, it remains a modern enigma. The Phaistos disk from circa 1700 B.C. The signs ...

Researchers have decoded more than half of the characters in the so-called "Kushan script" by comparing them with inscriptions in a known ancient language called Bactrian. When you purchase through ...

The room we are in is locked. It is windowless and lit from above by a fluorescent bulb. In the hallway outside—two stories beneath the city of London—attendants in dark suits patrol silently, giving ...

Nurtured by the alluvial planes of the Indus river, the Indus Valley hosted one of the world's oldest urban cultures. From 3300 to 1700 BC, the Indus people built impressive cities like Mohenjo-daro ...