Clay Tokens and the Origin of Writing

Clay Tokens and the Origin of Writing Presentation by Mindy McAdams Week 2, Thursday MMC 2265

What are they?

What are they?
Small — most are 0.5 to 1.25 inches long
Made of (fired) clay
16 main types, including cone, sphere, disk, cylinder, tetrahedron
For 4,000 years, they were very plain
Later tokens have markings and distinct meanings

Simple vs. “complex”

The cradle of civilization
People quit the nomadic life dependent on hunting and gathering
Crops planted and cultivated
Property ownership
Trading goods and services
Called the “agricultural revolution” (also the “Neolithic revolution”)

The first cities were built in what is now Iraq
Fertile agricultural land between two rivers
Mixed religion and government

From token to sign

Impressions on “envelopes”

Impressions on tablets

Development and change
Plain tokens appeared when agriculture began (in Mesopotamia)
Complex tokens appeared about the same time as cities there (circa 4000 B.C.E.)
The first writing appeared about 3200 B.C.E.
Writing was used only for accounting until about 2700 B.C.E.

“ Before 2700 … writing is only accounting . To recall what comes in the temple or the palace, and what comes out. So-and-so much gold, so-and-so many sheep, so-and-so many bushels of grain. It’s only numbers and the thing counted . And then, at some point, the name of who it belongs to . That’s it.” — Interview with Denise Schmandt-Besserat http:// www.kenyonreview.org/interviews/schmandt.php

When they were in use
Earliest clay tokens date from about
8000 B.C.E.
Clay tokens were used for five millennia (5,000 years)
3500 - 3200 B.C.E. Tokens start to be enclosed in clay “envelopes”
3100 - 3000 B.C.E. Tokens decline, decrease, disappear

Clay Tokens and the Origin of Writing Presentation by Mindy McAdams University of Florida

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Clay Tokens and the Origin of Writing

by Mindy McAdams on Jan 18, 2007

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Clay Tokens and the Origin of Writing — Presentation Transcript