Indecipherable Signs on the Rock

Abstract A noteworthy aspect of South Caucasian Protohistoric archaeology is the presence of limited archaeological evidence concerning a series of engraved and painted signs associated with funerary contexts. These signs cannot be categorized strictly as decorations nor as true forms of proto writing. Given the paucity of research on this topic, this paper compiles the primary evidence of engravings and paintings from the Middle and Late Bronze Age periods, for which the term ‘enigmatic’ is proposed due to the current inability to provide definitive interpretations. It is suggested that these engravings and paintings may have functioned as communication systems, potentially prefiguring the writing forms of subsequent periods.