The pendant dates to 11,o00 years ago. When I first read the article’s title, I was skeptical about “secret codes”, and I still think it’s a bit on the sensationalist side.
This pendant has connections. The lines are similar to those drawn on batons found in Asia, related to societies with shamanic, animist based religions. If the usage was as similar as the marks themselves, then the long lines may represent hunts, and the small lines that make tick marks along the longer ones may represent the number of animals taken in the hunt.
This is the only pendant of its age and type ever found in England.
Very similar pendants, made of amber, have been found in Denmark. They also date back to 11,000 years ago. And an unmarked amber pendant fragment was found in York.
So how likely are the sites in York and Denmark to have been in contact with each other?
Quite likely. At the time, much of the North Sea was dry land.
It may be a leap to assume that more recent hunting cultures with shamanic religions can be compared to stone-age groups such as the original owners of the Yorkshire pendant. Or maybe not. Reverence for the animal’s spirit, ceremonies to welcome the spirit to act as a guardian of the settlement are common themes in many known or surviving shamanic cultures.
Article: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/stone-age-britons-may-have-had-prehistoric-secret-code-a6896596.html