The Disc

The Two Faces: Layout and Asymmetry

The disc carries content on both sides, conventionally labeled Side A and Side B. Side A contains 31 sign-groups arranged in a spiral of approximately five turns winding from the outer rim toward the center. Side B holds 30 sign-groups in a slightly looser spiral of about four and a half turns. Each sign-group is delimited by incised vertical lines scored into the clay with a stylus — a different tool than the stamps used for the signs themselves. A small rosette or flower-like stamp occupies the center of each face, possibly serving as a terminal or starting marker. The two spirals are not mirror images; the density and spacing of groups differ noticeably, suggesting the content on each side was composed independently rather than as a continuation of the other.

The Sign Inventory: What the Symbols Depict

The 45 distinct sign types cover a surprisingly wide range of recognizable subjects. Human figures include a walking man, a woman, a child, and a distinctive head wearing what appears to be a mohawk-like crest or plumed helmet. Isolated body parts — a bare leg, a clenched fist — appear as separate signs. Animals are represented by a fish, a bird, an insect resembling a bee, and a cat-like quadruped. Botanical motifs include a leafy branch, a lily-like flower, and the central rosette. Tools and manufactured objects feature a shield, a comb, a carpenter's angle, a round-bottomed vessel, a hide or animal skin, and what may be a flute or pipe. Several signs remain difficult to classify: they could be abstract geometric forms or highly stylized depictions whose referents are no longer identifiable. The signs range in size from roughly 5 mm to 15 mm across, and each is rendered with enough internal detail — individual fingers, feather barbs, shield bosses — to confirm they were carved as miniature reliefs on the punch faces.

Surface Evidence of Production Process

Close examination reveals the sequence the maker followed. The spiral guidelines and dividing lines were scored into the clay first, after which the signs were stamped into the prepared fields. At least one location on Side A shows a sign that was deliberately smoothed over and re-stamped with a different symbol — a correction made mid-composition. Along the outermost turn, several sign impressions slightly overlap the dividing lines, which has been used to argue the stamping proceeded from the rim inward toward the center. The punches were applied by hand: repeated instances of the same sign show minor rotational and depth variations, indicating the stamp was positioned by eye rather than by any mechanical jig. The clay's fine, uniform grain accepted the impressions cleanly, with no visible air bubbles or inclusions distorting the stamp edges. Thin ridges of displaced clay around deeper impressions confirm the disc was still soft — but firm enough to hold shape — at the time of stamping.

Condition and Damage

A small triangular section is broken away from the lower edge of Side B, resulting in the partial loss of the outermost sign-group on that face. A fine crack extends across a portion of Side A but does not obscure any signs. Minor surface chipping is present along the disc's rim, consistent with handling or shifting in its burial context rather than with deliberate damage. Beyond these defects, the disc is remarkably intact for a fired clay object roughly 3,600 years old. The stamp impressions remain crisp across both faces, with fine interior details — such as the parallel lines on the comb sign or the segmented body of the insect — still clearly legible. The fired surface has a pale buff tone, darkened slightly in patches by burial soil deposits that have not been fully cleaned away.