A team of archaeologists uncovers two 4,500-year-old seals on Therasia that could be a key step toward the birth of script in the Bronze Age

On the small island of Therasia, one of the volcanic islands of the Santorini group in the Greek Cyclades archipelago, a group of researchers has discovered two seal impressions that may change everything we know about the origins of script in the Aegean.

They were found at the site of Koimisis, which dates back about 4,500 years, and provide evidence that the inhabitants of the area were already experimenting with the use of organized symbols, possibly for communication purposes, much earlier than previously believed.

The finding consists of the handle of a large storage jar that archaeologists discovered in a room of a Bronze Age settlement. Remarkably, the pottery fragment preserves two distinct seals that were stamped before the jar was fired. The researchers have named them THS.1 and THS.2.

seal impressions greek island bronze age origin script
Detail of first seal impression THS.1. Credit: K. Sbonias et al. / V. Papazikou

The first seal, THS.1, features a series of abstract signs aligned in three rows as if forming some kind of inscription. Some of these symbols resemble leaves, spirals, or schematic figures, but researchers still do not know their exact meaning. They are arranged in sequence, which leads experts to believe they may be an early attempt to convey information—perhaps names indicating ownership of the goods or some other similar kind of message.

The second seal, THS.2, has a more decorative style, with geometric motifs typical of Cycladic art of the time, such as triangles and meanders. The design is similar to that of other seals found on the Greek islands and may have had a more ornamental or identifying use.

The origin of writing in the Aegean?

The earliest known forms of writing in the region, such as Cretan hieroglyphs or the script Linear A, appeared around 2000 BCE. But these seals from Therasia have been dated between 2700 and 2300 BCE, so they could be the missing link in that process—or at least one of them.

The later appearance of stamped handles in Crete further supports the non-Cretan origin of the jar with the printed seal from Therasia, as indicated by the petrographic analysis, say the researchers, who also reiterate that this is not writing proper, although the orderly arrangement of signs on THS.1 is reminiscent of later systems and even some symbols resemble those used in later Cretan seals.

But they also believe that the use of a multi-faced seal with three engraved sides is unusual for the time, so whoever used it was likely trying to convey something more complex than a simple ownership mark.

seal impressions greek island bronze age origin script
Detail of seal impression THS.2. and modern mould showing the mirrored design of the original seal face. Credit: K. Sbonias et al. / V. Papazikou

Scientific analyses revealed that the jar was not local but that the clay most likely came from the island of Naxos, the result of trade between islands, so it may have been a label from the producer or a sign of prestige or authority—like a kind of ancient logo identifying its origin.

Although the researchers have not found more jars with these same seals, the fact that two different ones were used, one perhaps “textual” and the other decorative, points to a more sophisticated system for the time than previously believed.

A seal with an inscription and its impression on the handle of a jar could have served to make a specific jar recognizable, fulfilling the function of identifying the person or authority to whom it belonged. In particular, on the Therasia jar, the impression that is most clearly “read” from above, on the upper part of the handle, is THS.1, which suggests that the position and visibility of this specific impression were intentional, they explain.

In conclusion, they conclude, although the evidence from Koimisis in Therasia does not support the existence of a proto-writing system in the Aegean during the Bronze Age, it highlights the events related to the formation of writing, particularly in relation to the use of seals as the first medium for the emergence of early writing in the Aegean.

SOURCES

Sbonias K, Tzachili I, Kordatzaki GS. Early Bronze Age seal impressions from Therasia: new evidence for seal use in the Cyclades and the emergence of script in an Aegean context. The Annual of the British School at Athens. doi:10.1017/S0068245425000024

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