# Proto-cuneiform is a language-independent notation (proto-writing)

> Still possible: Proto-cuneiform is proto-writing: a notation for quantities, goods, persons and transactions that represented administrative knowledge…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/answers/ANS0DEDW4J8QZXQ/proto-cuneiform-is-a-language-independent-notation-proto  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform)[What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record)Answer

Answer · Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk

# Proto-cuneiform is a language-independent notation (proto-writing)

Proto-cuneiform is proto-writing: a notation for quantities, goods, persons and transactions that represented administrative knowledge without encoding speech, so the texts record no language in Uruk IV.

**Still possible** Answers **1** question0

## Where it stands

**Still possible** One piece of evidence for, none against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- No phonetic spellings will be found in Uruk IV, and few in Uruk III.
- Sign order within cases will show no syntax beyond numeral-first.
- Proto-Elamite, which borrowed the system, will share its structural features despite recording a different population.

## What would rule it out

- Secure phonetic spellings in Uruk IV texts.
- Evidence of word order or grammatical marking within cases that matches a specific language.

## Evidence 1 for · none against

[The archaic texts show no grammar, no fixed sign order within cases and little or no phonetic coding, and their sign…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DEDXN80K013/the-archaic-texts-show-no-grammar-no-fixed-sign-order-within)

Supported

FOR

[A simulation shows that a concept-based symbol system becomes phonetic writing by repeated use for a language with…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DEDXNE0BMYH/a-simulation-shows-that-a-concept-based-symbol-system)

Suggestive

NEUTRAL

## The questions it answers

[What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record)

Open5 answers, none ahead

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Proto-cuneiform is a language-independent notation (proto-writing) [Answer ANS0DEDW4J8QZXQ]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDW4J8QZXQ
```

Key

**ANS** 0DEDW4J8QZXQ

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Proposed

[Session 1](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/sessions/SES0DEDZMVP66KE/session-1-proto-cuneiform-seeded-corpus-readings-and-open) · 31 Oct 2026

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