ArtFire

This bronze keyring features a fragment of Olmec text. It measures approximately 2 1/2" by 1 1/4" and is connected to a 1" solid brass split ring with bronze wire. The bead is from Mykonos, and is ceramic with a copper metallic glaze.

The Olmec civilization is the most ancient in Central America, and Olmec writing may be the earliest in the Americas, dating to 900 BC. Examples have only been found in recent years, and progress in deciphering them will be difficult unless more inscriptions are discovered.

I-120

As I reached the pictures in the "New Scientist" article I knew I had stumbled on what I had been looking for. Bronze has a feeling of antiquity about it that seems suited to fragments of text, and I wanted to incorporate script into the pieces I was making, but in all the texts I was looking at the meaning had to be considered. Here were "Eight Scripts That Still Can't Be Read", and they were both enormously varied and visually intriguing. From the organic feel of Linear A to the impossible precision of Rongo-rongo, from the almost familiar pictures of Olmec, Proto-Elamite, and the Phaistos Disc to the abstract lines and squiggles of Meroitic, all were visually and intellectually engaging in a different way than known text could be. They say something, but they are more cultural artifact than simple text. Even if one turns out to be a warehouse inventory I won't be disappointed because their meaning goes beyond their translation. So here is my "Undeciphered Texts" collection.

bronze, brass, ceramic bead