Home / Series / TED Talks / Aired Order / Season 2015 / Episode 201

Genevieve von Petzinger: Why are these 32 symbols found in ancient caves all over Europe?

Written language, the hallmark of human civilization, didn't just suddenly appear one day. Thousands of years before the first fully developed writing systems, our ancestors scrawled geometric signs across the walls of the caves they sheltered in. Paleoanthropologist, rock art researcher and TED Senior Fellow Genevieve von Petzinger has studied and codified these ancient markings in caves across Europe. The uniformity of her findings suggest that graphic communication, and the ability to preserve and transmit messages beyond a single moment in time, may be much older than we think.

English
  • Originally Aired November 20, 2015
  • Runtime 15 minutes
  • Content Rating United States of America TV-PG
  • Network YouTube
  • Created September 18, 2017 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified September 18, 2017 by
    Administrator admin
Name Type Role
Genevieve von Petzinger Guest Star