HAS THE OLDEST HUMAN STONE CARVING BEEN DISCOVERED IN SPAIN?

 

Marbella, Spain. Internet photograph, public domain.

The discovery of a piece of stone with intentionally human-made markings on it may provide the oldest human stone carving yet found. Note, I said stone carving. At this time the oldest painted image may be a painted pig-like creature in a cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi that dates back to approx. 5.5 ka. (Faris 2024)

“The carvings were found during excavations at the Coto Correa archaeological site, located in the Las Chapas neighborhood of Marbella, Spain. Coto Correa was first identified during the 1950s with the accidental discovery of stone tools that date from the Palaeolithic period, as well as other tools from the Chalcolithic and Late Bronze Age. The oldest stone tools date from between 1,500,000 5o 100,000 BC and confirms the presence of prehistoric settlers living in the Marbella region during the Early to Middle Palaeolithic, a period when modern humans began migrating out of Africa and began to replace other Homo species such as the Neanderthals and Homo Erectus.” (Milligan 2025)

“Until now, the roots of prehistoric rock art have been assumed to trace back to the Upper Paleolithic era, beginning around 50,000 BC. Cave paintings and engravings from that period have been found throughout Europe, frequently in caves and other times on large rocks or cliff faces. The choice of rock art theme suggests a desire to communicate about daily life in some instances, and an interest in conveying more complex ideas about nature, mythology and spiritual interests in others.” (Falde 2025) This is, of course, the result of the Eurocentric bigotry that prevailed during the last (the 20^th) century.

View of stone showing incised lines in the center of the photograph. Internet photograph, public domain.

This stone has been tentatively dated to 200,000 years old. “An analysis of finds from ongoing excavations have identified a set of carved markings on a gabbro stone block that could be 200,000 years old, potentially predating the oldest known cave art by 100,000 years.  To confirm this finding, the Department of Culture is conducting a detailed geoarchaeological analysis: ‘The techniques applied for absolute dating consist of quartz analysis of different sediment samples, which will allow for a precise chronology of the samples.’” (Milligan 2025) Once this is accomplished there will be hard data upon which to build further analyses.

A few hypotheses have been put forward for the creation of these marks to date. “It’s possible the markings could have served as a form of early record-keeping, perhaps tracking events, quantities of objects, or notable achievements. Some suggest the markings could function as a form of identification, designating ownership over the stone itself. Alternatively, these carvings may have held symbolic or ritualistic significance, which if true would prove and intriguing glimpse into the cognitive abilities of ancient humans.” (Falde 2025) If, as suggested, the markings are tracking events or notable achievements, they would represent some form of mnemonic aide as they do not seem to present an image of an event or the accomplishment of a notable deed. It seems entirely possible that they are just some form of “kilroy was here”, just a record of presence.

Analysis is ongoing to establish firm dating and to examine it for any other markings. “’In addition, documentation work will be carried out using 3D scanning, which will allow for a high-resolution virtual composite of the set of marks. This will allow the entire surface to be studied in maximum detail, allowing for the identification of working marks and graphic elements,’ added the Department of Culture.” (Milligan 2025) Hopefully this will point to additional marks, more evidence for analysis.

So what do the marks represent? I personally do not see record keeping, tallies, or mnemonic aides. I think I see ‘tagging’. Humans seem to have a subconscious need to alter their environment, and I see no reason why pre-sapiens hominids would not have also possessed that trait. With more data and ongoing studies the team may be able to judge which hominid species had produced the markings, Neanderthal or Homo Erectus.

REFERRENCE:

Falde, Nathan, 2025, Oldest Rock Art: 200,000-Year-Old Carvings Found on Stone in Marbella, Spain, 14 March 2025, https://www.ancient-origins.net. Accessed online 3 April 2025.

Faris, Peter, 2024, A New Candidate for the Oldest Known Artwork, 10 August 2024, RockArtBlog, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com

Milligan, Mark, 2025, Discovery at Las Chapas could be the oldest stone carvings of human origin, 12 March 2025, https://archaeology.org/news/, Accessed online 13 March 2025.

UNKNOWN LANGUAGE FOUND ON MYSTERIOUS STONE TABLET:

 

Bashplemi Lake, near Dmansis, Georgia. Online image, public domain.

A basalt tablet was discovered in 2021 near Bashplemi Lake in the Dmansis municipality, Georgia, which bears and inscription in an unknown script. The team who studied the tablet tentatively date it to the Late Bronze/Early Iron Ages. The stone itself is of local origin and the incised characters bear resemblance to at least 20 other ancient scripts from the Near East and Mediterranean regions. (Shengelia et al. 2024:96)

According to a study published in the Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology, the tablet measures 24.1 x 20.1 cm. The characters are organized into seven vertical registers running vertically, although the direction in which the inscription should be read is uncertain. (Milligan 2024) In the published photograph and drawing, however, the tablet appears to be rotated ninety degrees clockwise leaving the seven registers horizontal. Later in their paper the authors (Shengelia et al. 2024) from the team studying the stone state that the characters run horizontally, not vertically, so in this they contradict Milligan.

Tablet found at Bashplemi Lake, near Dmansis, Georgia. Online image, public domain.

“The history of studying pre-Christian scripts in Georgia begins with the archeological studies of the ancient city of Mtskheta, which was the capital before the Fifth century. In the 1920s-1950s period, 10 ancient epigraphic monuments were discovered there (five Greek, two Hebrew, one Pahlavi (Middle Persian), and one Aramaic. - - In addition, one Greek-Aramaic bilingual stele was found there. A fragmentary inscription of (the) pre-Christian period was found in Nekresi Monastery (extreme east of Georgia) and city ruins. Over the last two or three decades, attention has been paid to the so-called cryptographic images discovered in the territory of Georgia (especially in the mountainous regions). These images have been intensively gathered and studied (Great Catalogue of Petroglyphs of Georgia 2010). Regarding their fragmented nature, they are unreadable; however, the question of their origin and graphical similarity to some other scripts has also been debated. It is highly likely that these stones were reused.” (Shengelia et al. 2024:98)

The tablet was analyzed and proven to be made of vesicular basalt, grayish in color with lighter inclusions. The carved characters were determined to have been drilled with a conical drill and then the drill holes were connected. The resulting lines are round-bottomed and smooth with traces of many of the original holes visible. (Shengelia et al. 2024:99)

The photograph released purporting to be of the tablet is obviously not gray, vesicular basalt so I assume it to be a plaster cast, probably of the original.

Tracing of the tablet found at Bashplemi Lake, near Dmansis, Georgia. Online image, public domain.

Comparisons of these characters with a large number of other scripts showed many relative similarities, but no full agreement. Most notable similarities were with Caucasian scripts (Georgian Mrgvlovani, Albanian, and proto-Georgian). Based upon other artifacts recovered from the area of this discovery the authors concluded the given date of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age. The actual original finders of the inscribed plaque were local residents who supposedly received no reward, so the authors took this as a sign of authenticity, no motive for hoaxing. (Shengelia et al. 2024)

They also did not mention whether this was a surface find or dug up, and as I assume we are looking at a plaster cast, there is not any indication of a patina on the image presented. So, is this a real artifact, or a forgery? Based on the image and information presented I do not believe we can reach a conclusion.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Milligan, Mark, 2024, Unknown language found on mysterious stone tablet, 3 December 2024, https://www.heritagedaily.com/. Accessed online 3 December 2024.

Shengelia, Ramaz et al., 2024, Discovery of Unknown Script Sign in Georgia: the Bashplemi Lake Tablet, Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology, No. 11(3), pp. 96-113, November 2024. DOI:10.14795/j.v11i3.1035.