History of writing
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The history of writing traces the development of writing systems and how their use transformed different societies. The use of writing – as well as the resulting phenomena of literacy and literary cul
Clay bulla and tokens – Susa (4000–3100 BC)
Numerical tablet – Khafajah, Uruk V (3500–3350 BC)
Pre-cuneiform tags depicting a goat or sheep alongside a numeral, likely "10" – Al-Hasakah (3300–3100 BC)
Turtle plastron inscribed with an eye-like symbol – Jiahu, China (c. 6000 BC)
Proto-writing
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Proto-writing consists of visible marks communicating limited information. Such systems emerged from earlier traditions of symbol systems in the early Neolithic, as early as the 7th millennium BC Chin
History of writing
…culture in some historical instances – has had myriad social and psychological consequences. Each historical invention of writing emerged from systems of proto-writing that used ideographic and mnemonic symbols but were not capable of fully recording spoken language. True writing, where the content of linguistic…
Turtle plastron from Jiahu inscribed with an eye-like symbol
Clay amulet, one of the Tărtăria tablets, dated to c. 5300 BC
The Cascajal block, dated c. 900 BCE and associated with Olmec hieroglyphs.