Oldik

Oldik is a fictional ancient civilization and language used in encyclopedic worldbuilding and speculative fiction. In the imagined setting, Oldik inhabited a mixed river valley and foothill region in central Aethra, flourishing from roughly 2000 to 800 BCE. The exonym Oldik appears in later chronicles, while the people called themselves by terms recorded on ceremonial objects. The term has since become the conventional label for both the culture and its language in reference works.

Oldik language and script: Oldik is described as a decayed language family with an independent script. The Oldik script is an alphabetic system with angular signs, found on ceramic shards, stone stelae, and metalwork. Inscriptions mention ancestral deities, civic offices, and trade goods. A number of bilingual inscriptions with a neighboring language named Lethic enable partial decipherment and dating. Linguists describe the language as isolating to mildly synthetic, with a subject–object–verb tendency in extended texts, though the corpus is fragmentary.

Society and economy: Urban centers echoed across riverine plains with hilltop fortifications. The Oldik engaged in bronze production, textile work, and long-distance trade, exchanging metals, polished stones, and ceramic wares with adjacent cultures. Social organization likely included kin-based lineages and a priestly or aristocratic class governing temple-civic complexes. Burial practices varied from clay coffin burials to chambered tombs, revealing status differentiation.

Archaeology and scholarship: Major sites include Oldik-North, Oldik-South, and the Valley of Vessels. Excavations began in earnest in the 19th century in the fictional archive and have continued through the present day. Debates focus on the chronology of phases, the relationship to neighboring language groups, and the degree of centralized authority. The consensus remains that Oldik represents a regional culture rather than a unified empire.