The belief by most researchers is that writing has emerged as an independent invention only a few times on earth. Once in the Middle East. Second in the New World by the Olmec and later Mayans. A third time probably in China. Finally, if it is not a hoax and if it was invented before European contact a fourth time in the Pacific on Easter Island. If there are any other languages which were independently invented, even known ones it might never be known.
Many ancient writing systems have been deciphered. However, many still have not. Due to a paucity of examples in some cases it is likely some will never be solved unless new examples emerge.
I decided to organize the data on a few of the more important undeciphered languages into a chart. I love charts and prefer getting data that way over a bunch of ponderous writing.
Permission Is Granted To Copy And Paste And Use This Chart. |
Sources:
http://www.ancientscripts.com &
Wikipedia