Tărtăria Tablets Site
Tartaria Vinča Tablets · Tărtăria Settlement
Middle Neolithic (Vinča A3)·Vinča (Turdaș)·🇷🇴 Transylvania, Alba County, Romania
About
About Tărtăria Tablets Site
Vinča pit settlement at Tărtăria (c. 5300 BCE) on Mureș River, famous for three clay tablets with Vinča signs found in pit with burnt human bones, 26 figurines and shells, sparking proto-writing debate. Excavated Vlassa 1961.
Why it mattersControversial earliest 'writing' tablets in Old Europe, Vinča symbol centre.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Tablets as writing? Predate Sumer by millennium
- 02Ritual burial pit vs hoard
Theories
- 01Earliest European script experiment
- 02Amulets for ritual, not administrative writing
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 5300 BCE
- Period
- Middle Neolithic (Vinča A3)
- Culture
- Vinča (Turdaș)
- Purpose
- Ritual pit settlement and symbolic centre
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 19th–20th century
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 5300 BCE
Initial construction / first occupation at Tărtăria Tablets Site
19th century / 1960s
Antiquarian notice and modern systematic excavation of Tărtăria Tablets Site
2000s
Conservation and publication of final reports for Tărtăria Tablets Site
On the ground
Structures & features
45.9700° N · 23.4200° E · 280 m · 3 mapped features
Tablet Pit (Vlassa Pit)
pitPit 1.5 m deep with three tablets, 26 figurines and burnt bones at centre
45.9701° N · 23.4201° ETablet Hoard (3 Tablets)
findspotThree unbaked clay tablets 6 cm with pictographic signs, housed in Alba Iulia museum
45.9699° N · 23.4201° EMureș Terrace Scatter
surface scatterVinča sherd scatter on river terrace 200 m east
45.9702° N · 23.4199° E