Ancient Inscriptions - Ep 339

In this episode of The Archaeology Show, we follow three discoveries that reveal how much ancient meaning can survive—and how much can still elude us. First, we look at rare Neolithic obsidian arrowheads from central Anatolia, etched with one-of-a-kind geometric designs that took real effort to carve, yet remain impossible to interpret. Then we head deep into Spain’s Cova de les Dones, where a hidden chamber holds 120 Latin inscriptions—evidence of an organized Roman cult centered on a mysterious “Lady,” Domina, and the name “MALACI.” Finally, we travel to Wetar Island in eastern Indonesia, where a 4,000-year-old painted stone plaque provides the first portable example of Austronesian Painting Tradition art, suggesting seafarers carried shared symbols and identities across the ocean long before pottery arrived.