A new Indo-European language spotted on tablet in Hittite ruins

A new Indo-European language was discovered in the archaeological expedition carried out in Turkey's Corum province. The new language was spotted in a ritual text inscribed on a tablet found in the ruins of Hattusha, the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age.

Noting that around 30,000 tablets have been recovered in the course of 100 years and the number constantly grows with new findings, Corum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism said:

"The text on the tablets are in Hittite, the predominant language of the era in the territory and the oldest proven Indo-European language. It has come quite as a surprise in the recent excavations this year though that a text in an unknown language was spotted inside a text of cult ritual, the rest of which is written in [known] Hittite. Dr. Daniel Schwemer from Germany's Würzburg University, the epigraphist of the expedition, identified this [new] language as a version of the language of Kalashma, which is believed to be have been located in today's Bolu or Gerede region, at the northwest end of Hittite territory."

The passage written in Kalashma language is yet to be decrypted and it remains mostly undeciphered for the being, Corum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism said.

The archaeological expedition in Hattusha ruins is carried under the supervision Dr. Andreas Schachner from German Archaeological Institute (DAI).

The inter-disciplinary work at the site is carried out under a project supported by DAI, Thyssen Foundation, GRH Foundation, Volkswagen Foundation and Italian Foreign Ministry. Experts from DAI and the Universitites of Istanbul, Würzburg and Marburg work in cooperation.