An Archaic Recording System in the Uruk-Jemdet Nasr Period ...

An Archaic Recording System in the Uruk-Jemdet Nasr Period
Denise Schmandt-Besserat
American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 83, No. 1. (Jan., 1979), pp. 19-48.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-9114%28197901%2983%3A1%3C19%3AAARSIT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2
American Journal of Archaeology is currently published by Archaeological Institute of America.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained
prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in
the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/journals/aia.html.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.
The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic
journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers,
and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take
advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
http://www.jstor.org
Wed Aug 15 13:30:51 2007

An Archaic Recording System
in the Uruk-Jemdet Nasr period*
Abstract
In the ancient Middle East (ninth-second millennia
B.C.), reckoning was practiced with the help of
clay tokens in geometric and odd shapes which
stood for numbers and various commodities. This
paper presents an assemblage of 661 tokens dating
from the end of the fourth millennium B.C. (Uruk-
Jemdet Nasr period) which are classified into 15
main types with some zoo subtypes. Charts illustrate
the occurrence of each type in major sites of Iran,
Iraq and Syria. The paper discusses the series of
major innovations which characterize the evolution
of the token system at the end of the fourth mil-
lennium B.C. and in particular:
I. An improvement in the manufacture of the
tokens.
2. An increase in the repertory of shapes of tokens
including the appearance of naturalistic types
such as animal heads, vessels and utensils.
3. A proliferation of markings on the surface of
the tokens: incised lines (55% of the tokens),
punched markings (4%) and applique pellets
or coils.
4. The appearance of perforations on 30% of the
tokens, suggesting the stringing of tokens for
special transactions.
5. The storage of tokens in archives by means of
sealed envelopes (bullae) sometimes provided
with exterior markings which correspond with
the shape and number of tokens included inside.
The various innovations in the archaic recording
system around 3100 B.C. are viewed as a response
*This paper was originally presented at the 79th General
Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, on December
18, 1977, in Atlanta. This paper was made possible
by a travel grant by the Research Institute and the Center for
Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
I am indebted to M.W. Green, Freie Universitat, Berlin, Project
Archaische Texte aus Uruk, for making available her provisional
list of archaic signs of Uruk and for her invaluable help
in setting up the chart of parallels between tokens and Uruk
pictographs. I am also grateful for her advice on the manuscript.
I would also like to thank W.W. Hallo, Yale Univer-
sity, who has been kind enough to give his time and thoughts
to the problems presented here. His comments have been very
important in the completion of the paper. The objects dis-
DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT
to the pressure of economic developments such as
the expansion of crafts production in workshops,
the increase in local and long distance trade and the
emergence of bureaucracy in the new city states. The
first written tablets which appear about 3100 B.C.
are presented as the ultimate result of the evolution
of the token system; it is suggested that writing
derives from the system of markings used on the
bullae. A series of charts stresses the similarity be-
tween pictographs and tokens, which leads to the
conclusion that the first signs of Sumerian writing
represented numbers and commodities according to
the shape of the tokens used in the archaic recording
system.
Research in the past thirty years has indicated
the existence .in the ancient Middle East of a re-
cording system based on tokens. A. Leo Oppen-
heim in 1958 first noted the use of "counters" or
tokens (Akkadian: abnu, pl. abnu, abnati) at the
Palace of Nuzi in the second millennium B.C.'
At that time writing was well developed but a
system of tokens was used to compute and keep
records, for example of the number of animals
kept in the herds of the institution. Pierre Amiet
recognized the same system of recording at Susa
in the fourth millennium B.C., therefore extending
it back in time by two thousand years, to a period
either contemporary or slightly preceding the ap-
pearance of writing.' The tokens at Susa were
made of clay and were modelled in a variety of
cussed are mostly unpublished. I would like to give special
thanks to P. Amiet at the Musee du Louvre, Paris; Dr. K.
Deller at the Orientalisches Seminar, University of Heidelberg;
G. van Driel at the Assyriological Institute, Leiden; Mahmoud
M. Heretani at the Aleppo Museum, Aleppo; Dr. Liane Jakob-
Rost at the Vorderasiatisches Museum, East Berlin; Dr. E.
Sollberger at the British Museum, London and Dr. Eva Strom-
menger at the Staatlichen Museen. Berlin, for generously giving
me access to the collections of Susa, Uruk, Ubaid, Habuba
Kabira and Jebel Aruda.
A.L. Oppenheim, "An Operational Device in Mesopotamian
Bureaucracy," INES 18 (~ygy) 121-28.
2 P. Amiet, Glyptiqrre Szr.rienne (MCmoires de la delegation
archiologique en Iran 43, Paris 1972) I 69-70, I1 pl. 61-88.

shapes which Amiet assumed stood for various
commodities. Since 1969, my research on the early
uses of clay has enabled me to document the oc-
currence of such tokens in quantity in practically
all Middle Eastern sites starting in the ninth mil-
lennium B.C.3 It is presumed that the tokens were
used for computation and record-keeping in house-
holds and businesses. Certain tokens seem to have
had a numerical value; for example, a small cone
stood for one and a large cone for sixty. Others,
as pointed out by Amiet, stood for commodities: a
sheep was probably represented by a disc with an
incised cross.
The purpose of this paper is to document the
token system at the time of the appearance of
writing in the late Uruk and Jemdet Nasr period,
ca. 3100-2900 B.C. I propose to: (I) describe
the various shapes of tokens known from this pe-
riod; (2) document the graphic markings on the
tokens; (3) point out the similarity of token
shapes to Sumerian pictographs; (4) trace the con-
nection between tokens and writing; and (5) provide
a catalogue of tokens in the form of synoptic
charts (Appendix I).
THE TOKEN SYSTEhf
The study is based on 661 tokens from Iraq, Iran
3 D. Schmandt-Besserat, "An Archaic Recording System and
the Origin of Writing," Syro-12.ie.iopotamian Studies I, 2 (July
1977) 1-32; also "The Earliest Precursor of Writing," Scientific
American 238, 6 (1978) 50-59. In these articles I suggest
that writing may not have been a sudden invention, as previ-
ously assumed, but may represent a new step in the evolution
of a system of recording which was indigenous to the Middle
East since the ninth millennium B.C.
4The study is based on the thirty-four tokens from Uruk
stored at the Orientalisches Seminar in Heidelberg, Germany
and additional samples published in Charles Jordan, Vorlarrfger
Bericht uber die von der Notgemeinschaft der derrtschen Wis-
senschaft in Uruk Warka unternommenen Ausgrabrrngen (UVB)
2 (1931) 47 fig. 41; and also A. Noldeke and E. Heinrich,
UVB I4 (1933) pl. 14; UVB 21 (1965) 3I PIS. 17-19. DOCU-
mentation on the 425 tokens in the Staatlichen Museen was
kindly provided by Dr. L. Jakob-Rost; unfortunately, the infor-
mation arrived too late to be included in this article.
E. Mackay, "Report on Excavations at Jemdet Nasr, Iraq,"
Field Museum of Natrrral History Anthropology Memoirs I
(1931) 277-78, pls. 71 and 74. According to the site report,
Jemdet Nasr produced "a considerable number" of tokens, in
particular in the shapes of cones and ovoids. Unfortunately,
I had to limit myself to the 9 examples for which precise
documentation is provided in the report.
H. de Genouillac, "Fouilles de Telloh," Epoqzres pre'sargo-
niqtres (Paris 1934) 58-60 and 63, pls. 35, 37 and 43. There
are in reality many more tokens from Tello than the 33 in-
cluded. The report draws attention only to the specimens with
DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT [AJA 83
and Syria. One hundred and nineteen come from
Sumerian cities, particularly from Uruk4 (63
tokens), Jemdet Nasr5 (g), Tello6 (36), Fara7 (10)
and Ubaid8 (I). Four hundred and eighty-one
tokens come from Elam, mostly from Susa"432)
and Chogha Mish" (49). Lastly, the 61 specimens
from two Syrian sites, Habuba Kabira" (54) and
Jebel Aruda" (7), are of considerable interest since
the sites may have been Sumerian outposts along
the Euphrates. It is remarkable that no tokens have
been found at Chagar Hazar and Tell Brak.
Manufacture. The tokens are as a rule made of
clay. In the Uruk-Jemdet Nasr period they were
manufactured with much greater care than in the
preceding Chalcolithic and Neolithic periods. The
clay chosen is very fine and was obviously levi-
gated to remove all inclusions. The clay appears
to have been modelled while very wet, as a self-slip
often has formed on the surface and the finger-
prints of the maker are frequently visible. The
various shapes are carefully formed, the surfaces
are smooth, the edges are straight and have sharp
contours. One is often tempted to think that they
were mold made, but the lack of standardization
of size suggests that they were modelled by hand.
The tokens are consistently fired throughout their
markings; while mentioning that among the lain ones ". . . il
se rencontre des rondelles, pastilles, billes et cones," it does
not give an idea of their numbers or sizes.
7 E. Heinrich, Fara Ergebnisse der Azcsgrabungen der deutsch-
en Orient-Gesellschaft in Fara rind Abu Hatab rgoz/oj (Berlin
1931) PIS. 34h7 35P.
8 H.R. Hall and C.L. Woolley, Ur Excavations, I: A1 'Ubazd
(Oxford 1927) 41 fig. 4. The token is presently kept at the
British Museum.
QR. de Mecquenem and V. Scheil, Mhoires de la Mission
a~che'ologique de Perse 25 (Paris 1934) 192-93 fig. 28; and
R. de Mecquenem, MPmoires de la Mission arche'ologiqtre en
Iran 29, Mission de Susiane (Paris 1943) 27-29, fig. 23.
H.J. Kantor and P. Delougaz, "New Light on the Emer-
gence of Civilization in the Near East," The UNESCO Courier
(November 1969) 22-28. The information on the tokens from
Chogha Mish was generously provided by Dr. Helene Kantor.
They do not represent the totality of the findings but rather the
repertory of shapes at the site. The number of specimens for
each shape will be available in the forthcoming site report.
l1 Preliminary reports on the site have been published by
E. Strommenger in AfO 23 (1972) 131, and 24 (1973) 168-
71; MDOG IOI (1969) 54-64, 102 (1970) 45-51, and 103
(1971) 21-34. The tokens from Habuba Kabira presented in
this study include only those stored at the Aleppo Museum.
The remainder of the collection is in Berlin.
I2A summary of the excavations is published by S.E. van
der Leeuw in AntiqriitPs de I'Euphrate (Damascus 1974) 79-82.

19791 AN ARCHAIC RECORDING SYSTEM 2 1
thickness. Their color ranges from whitish buff to
pink and red, with gray and black probably due
to smoke during firing. Some tokens are also made
of stone, and all the examples described in the
Jemdet Nasr report are made of either white or
pink limestone, slate, or brown sandstone.13 The
size of the token is usually about 1.5-3 cm., with
some specimens as small as 0.6 cm. or as large as
4 cm. The great similarity in the appearance of
all the objects, with regard to the quality of the
material, surface treatment, color, etc., suggests that
they were manufactured by skilled artisans in a
pottery workshop.
Shupes. The 661 tokens can be divided into 15
shapes (see charts in Appendix I) : I. spheres; 11.
discs; 111. cones; IV. tetrahedra; V. biconoids; VI.
ovoids; VII. cylinders; VIII. bent coils; IX. tri-
angles or crescents; X. parabolae; XI. rectangles;
XII. rhomboids; XIII. containers; XIV. animals;
XV. miscellaneous. It is noteworthy that most of
these shapes are of simple geometric character and
can be termed abstract representations of the com-
modities represented. Only the containers and ani-
mals are represented realistically. Each of the types
may again be divided into various subtypes according
to: (I) the size of the objects; (2) various
markings produced in incised, impressed, or applique
technique. I believe that all of these varia-
tions conferred a special meaning to the objects.
Types.
I. Plain tokens. Two hundred and seventy-two
tokens are plain and do not bear markings of any
kind. They represent 41.14% of the objects considered
in the paper.
2. Incised tokens (pl. I, fig. I). As many as 362,
or 54.77%, of the tokens bear incised markings.
The incisions are mostly deep grooves made with
a pointed stick or stylus. Thin incisions executed
with a very fine point are rarer. On flat objects,
such as discs, triangles, crescents, rectangles and
parabolae, the incisions are made on one face of
the object only. On globular shapes, such as spheres,
cones, ovoids and cylinders, the incisions run
around the entire object and are visible from all
sides. The markings are placed on the most conspicuous
part of the object with the concern for
13 Mackay (supra n. 5) 277-78.
symmetry typical of Sumerian and Elamite art of
the period.
The patterns mostly consist of parallel lines or
short strokes and, less frequently, nicks. Other
linear patterns include plain crosses, St. Andrew's
crosses, checkers and crisscrosses. The number of
lines, strokes and nicks does not seem random
and, although all numbers of markings from I to
10 are represented, single, double, triple and j
markings occur with conspicuous frequency. It is
noteworthy that, except for 2, uneven numbers of
incisions are more frequently used. All types of
tokens except containers and animals include speci-
mens bearing a single incised line: 134 tokens (37%
of all incised specimens) bear one incision. Typi-
cally, the incision is placed in the center of the ob-
ject dividing the surface into two equal parts; for
instance, the discs are divided into two semi-circles,
the biconoids into two cones. In other cases the
incision follows a conspicuous line of the object,
for instance, the maximum diameter of the ovoids.
Forty-four objects bear 3 incisions and 27 bear j.
As a rule, the median line occupies the center of
the object and the others are equidistant on either
side. Patterns of 3 and j parallel lines mostly occur
on triangles and parabolae. Seven and g parallel
lines occur on one specimen respectively.
Among the even numbers of markings, 2 occurs
with the greatest frequency, on 28 objects. The
two lines are drawn at equal distance from the cen-
ter of the objects. The two-line pattern is mostly
found on spheres, 314 spheres and triangles. Groups
of 4, 6 and 10 occur respectively 4 and j times and
there is a single example with 16 strokes.
Simple patterns, such as perpendicular lines meet-
ing in a cross, occur on 8 discs as well as on a
sphere, an ovoid, a rectangle and a vessel. The St.
Andrew's cross is rare and occurs only on one
cone, one ovoid and one of the miscellaneous
shapes.
Crisscross and checker patterns as well as series
of multiple lines are found on 56 examples, in-
cluding bent coils, spheres, cones, ovoids, triangles
and the edges of discs. Of the more complex mark-
ings the ladder pattern occurs on four examples
among which are two rectangles, one cylinder and
one parabola. It is interesting to note that the
stylized representation of an ear of wheat as a kind

22 DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT [AJA 83
of herringbone pattern, which is the sign for cereal
on the Uruk tablets, occurs on a rectangle (Appendix
I, Type XI, 4) and on an ovoid (Appendix
I, Type VI, 3d). The sign which later means "excellent"
(a star) is rendered plastically by a starshaped
disc (Appendix I, Type 11, II~) and is
incised on the face of a second disc (Appendix 11,
Type 11, ~ob). Only a few of the various patterns
give the impression of being decorative; they include
a cone decorated with hanging triangles with
a central dot (Appendix I, Type 111, gf) and a
cylinder with a concentration of lines and dots
(Appendix I, Type VII, 3e).
3. Tokens with circular impressions (pl. I, fig.
2). There are only 24 tokens bearing circular punch
marks (3.64%). These marks are found randomly
among the various types of tokens including
spheres, discs, cones, tetrahedra, rhomboids, rectangles,
parabolae, containers and animals. As a rule,
the marks appear on one side of the object only
and are either shallow, produced with the blunt
end of a stick, or deep fine marks possibly executed
with a metal pin. The repertory of punch marks
is somewhat different from the incised lines. Ten
tokens (41.6% of the total of the impressed tokens)
bear a single punch, usually placed at the center
of the object. Nine specimens have 6 punch marks
either in a straight line or placed in two parallel
rows of three; 3 objects bear 3 circular marks arranged
in a triangle formation; groups of 8, 10,
16 and 22 punch marks each occur in one single
instance. In conclusion, one marking occurs with
the greatest frequency in both the incised and
punched variety. Groups of six are preferred among
the punch marks. While 16 markings are represented
once in both types, 12 strikingly never occur.
Some specimens bear both incised lines and
punch marks.
4. Tokens with appliqut markings. Three tokens
have appliqut markings in the form of clay pellets
or coils. One of the ovoids and one of the miscellaneous
shapes bear appliquC pellets, while one
cylinder is wrapped with a coil at both extremities
and a third coil in the center.
5. Tokens with perforations (pl. I, fig. 3). One
l4Schmandt-Besserat 1977 (supra n. 3) 5-17, chart 6. A
preliminary report of excavations at the site is published by
R.J. Braidwood, R. Howe, and C. Reed, "The Iranian Prehistoric
Project," Science 123 (1961) 20118-10.
l5Preliminary reports of excavations at the site are pub-
hundred and ninety-eight (30%) have a small per-
foration through their thickness. The perforated
specimens are found among the 15 types of tokens
and among plain, incised and punched subtypes.
In other words, most subtypes of tokens seemingly
occur both in a perforated and an unperforated
form. This should indicate that there were two
ways of handling them: by simple manipulation or
by stringing. Several explanations come to mind:
first, the tokens could be worn as amulets around
the neck or the wrist; second, the tokens could be
mounted in the fashion of a present-day abacus
with rows of counters held in parallel rows on
pliable rods. A last possibility, suggested by Amiet
in conversation, is that tokens representing a spe-
cial transaction might have been strung together.
In this case one might assume that the ends of the
string would have been held by one of the elon-
gated complete bullae bearing seals for authentica-
tion. This last hypothesis is supported by the fact
that the perforation was small and could allow only
a small string to pass through. More important, I
have not noticed any wear around the perforations
I have checked, which suggests a single use or
little handling, as would occur if a string of tokens
were kept in the archives.
THE PROLIFERATION OF SHAPES
The token system is remarkable for the persist-
ence of the basic shapes of the tokens through the
millennia. The prototypes for at least ten types
including spheres, discs, cones, ovoids, bent coils,
cylinders, triangles, rectangles and animals are
already present with little or no difference in the
token assemblage of Tepe Asiab in the ninth mil-
lennium B.C.14 and tetrahedra are also present in
the ninth millennium B.C. at Ganj Dareh Tepe."
The biconoids occur in the late Ubaid period at
Djaffarabad.lVarabolae (pl. I, fig. 4), rhomboids
and containers are, therefore, the only types which
can be identified as new in this period. One should,
however, notice the proliferation of graphic mark-
ings starting in the late Uruk period. If incisions
and punctations were known as early as the first
tokens in the ninth millennium KC., they were
lished by P.E.L. Smith in "Survey of Excavations," Iran 5
(1967) 138-39: 6 (1968) 158-60; 8 (1970) 178-80; 111 (1072)
165-68.
I"G. Dollfus, "Les Fouillez i Djaffarabad de 1969-71,"
Cahir~sde la DPle'gation ArchCologiq~tr en Iran I (1971) 53-55,

19791 AN ARCHAIC RECORDING SYSTEM 23
used sparingly: one groove, one or two nicks, or a
single punctation. Some tokens of the Ubaid
period from Djaffarabad17 and Susa have preserved
traces of painted patterns including parallel
lines and dots. The extraordinary diversity of mark-
ings seems new to the late Uruk period, and there
is an apparent shift of interest from the shape of
the tokens to the markings they bear. The 661
tokens of this study reach a number of 200 subtypes.
The proliferation of markings may suggest
that more pressure was exerted at this time on the
system to become more precise or to increase its
repertory to handle a greater number of concepts.
It is, on the other hand, noteworthy that there is no
report of any incision on the specimens from the
site of Jemdet Nasr.
DEVELOPhfENT OF THE TOKEN SYSTEXI
The avchaeological context. At Susa, R. de Mec-
quenem reported the finding of a considerable
number of tokens at a depth between 17.50 and
21 m.18 He indicates that they belong to children's
tombs and interprets them as devices to teach
words to children (like a modern picture book).
Although tokens are not incongruous among a
child's funerary goods, they certainly were not
restricted to this use. Indeed, some were found
more recently in level 18 in private buildings, en-
closed in clay envelopes (bullae). L. le Breton dates
the tokens to the Susa Ca period. This is the level
in which proto-Elamite writing appears and these
earliest tablets bear unique impressed signs.'!'
In Jemdet Nasr there is no precise indication of
context, and E. Mackay mentions that the tokens
were found "all over the site.""He identifies them
as gamesmen and thus concludes that the inhabi-
tants of the site were a good natured and playful
people. For Tello there is no further reference to
their context than the depth at which the tokens
were found, which ranges from the surface to
7 m. Genouillac interprets them as amulets. "Ces
petits riens de terre cuite trahissent le m6me souci
clue la gravure des cachets et des cylindres, le dtsir
d'avoir une marque personnelle. . . .""
l7 Supra n. 16.
Mccquenern and Scheil (supra n. 11) vol. 25, 192; vol.
20, 21) ti& 23.
I!' L. le Hrcton, "The Early Periotl at Susa: Mesopotamian
Relati(~ns," Iraq 19 (1957) 112 fig. 33.
'O Mackay (supra n. 5) 277.
At Uruk the tokens were not found in a good
stratigraphic context. Jordan reports that during
the 1929/1930 season a great number were found
in rubble outside the walls of the Red Temple,"
and suggests their possible use in a cult of still un-
known nature. During the same season 120 archaic
clay tablets were unearthed that belonged to the
same context. These tablets of Level IV are among
the earliest found at Uruk and are characterized
by their small size and convex faces. Unlike the
Elamite tablets, they already bear an extensive
repertory of incised signs.
Tokens excavated more recently in Syria pro-
vide more specific indications of use. At Habuba
Kabira, situated on the Euphrates, the tokens were
found in a large secular building built around a
central courtyard. Hearths and evidence of food
consumption indicate that it was a household, but
at the same time numerous jar sealings, bullae and
tablets show that some of the rooms were used for
business. The tablets are very crude and bear only
impressed signs, including circular and ovoid
marks. Identical circular marks also appear on one
jar sealing. E. Strommenger presumes that, in this
complex, business transactions involving large cities
down on the river must have been carried
Jebel Aruda is located within sight of Habuba
Kabira, and there is little doubt that the two sites
were closely related. Jebel Aruda's strategic loca-
tion on a steep limestone formation that dominates
the Euphrates suggests to S.E. van der Leeuw the
possibility of a military base.24 The remains of
three temples might indicate religious or adminis-
trative functions. Numerous jar sealings and four
tablets were found in a large T-shaped room near
the temples. The tablets bear small and large circu-
lar marks as well as long cylindrical ones.
Tokens therefore are found in private, commer-
cial and religious buildings. One factor, however,
remains constant, namely that the tokens with ex-
tensive graphic markings are consistently found in
levels contemporary with the appearance of archaic
clay tablets. Usually these tablets bear only a re-
stricted repertory of impressed shapes, including
'l Genouillac (supra n. 6) 58.
"Jordan (supra n. 4) 47.
?%. Strornrnenger in AntiqrtitLi de I'Euphrate (Damascus
1974) 55-58.
24 Van der Leeuw (supra n. 12) 80.

24 DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT [AJA 83
circular, cylindrical and ovoid marks. Only in
Warka was a large vocabulary of incised signs
already in use.25 In the following Jamdet Nasr pe-
riod, writing became much more ~idespread.'~
The economic context. The Uruk period was
characterized by a substantial increase in popula-
tion and in the number of settlements. In a survey
of the Diyala Valley, for instance, 22 Ubaid sites
were plotted against 43-almost double--of the
Uruk period.'? In the Susa area the number of
ettlements tripled. Furthermore, unlike the rather
uniform Ubaid villages, the settlements of the
Uruk period were more varied in size. Variation
in settlement size is a distinctive feature of the
late Uruk period in Iraq and Iran. For instance,
in the Susa area four types of settlements appear:
small villages of ca. 0.9 hect. on the average, large
villages of ca. 2.3 hect., small centers of 5.3 hect.,
and large centers of 14.8 hect. This hierarchy of
settlements seems to be linked to the emergence
of a new economy based on specialization and
more intensified local exchange of finished product~.~~
Indeed, large and small settlements seem to
specialize in various crafts, such as production of
bitumen, stone tools and pottery. Progress in technology,
for example the invention of the potter's
wheel, transformed the home or village pottery
into an industrial workshop geared to mass production,
and finished goods were distributed
throughout a wide radius. The presence of imported
goods, including obsidian, copper, basalt,
marine shells and lapis lazuli, reveals that exchanges
were also made beyond the immediate
region. In the small and large centers sizable buildings
decorated with cone mosaics have been interpreted
as administrative headquarters where the
coordination of the local and long distance exchanges
took place.
The new economic system based on the exchange
of goods from one community to another and from
one country to another, instead of the home production,
increased the need for efficient recording.
Production, storage and redistribution of goods to
workmen and administrators needed to be computed
and recorded with accuracy. The ancient
Z"A. Falkenstein, Arrhaische Texte aus Urrck (Ausgrahungen
der deutschen Forschunysyemeinschaft in Uruk Warka 2,
Berlin 1936) 28.
26 S. Langdon, "Pictographic Inscriptions from Jemdet Nasr,"
Oxford Editions of Czineiform Texts 7 (London 1928).
tokens, first intended as a simple household and
market bookkeeping system, were used to satisfy
the increasingly more complex accounting needs
of developing businesses and state administration.
Since the date of the development of the token sys-
tem through the use of graphic markings coin-
cides with a drastic economic change, the latter is
likely to be the crucial factor which led to improvements
in the system. Various other changes
were made, including the perforation of the tokens
(possibly to isolate the tokens of one transaction),
the invention of clay envelopes (bulli~e) obviously
to satisfy a new need for data storing, followed by
impressed signs on jar sealings and tablets, and the
invention of writing.
SIhlILARITY BETWEEN TOKENS AND
SUI\IERIAN PICTOGRAPHS
Various shapes of tokens are strikingly similar
to some signs of the archaic Sumerian writing sys-
tem. Of the 15 types of tokens, 12 find close cor-
respondence in Uruk pictographs; the remaining
three (bent coils, rhomboids and miscellaneous
shapes) can be closely matched to related shapes of
pictographs. As shown in Appendix 11, a total of
37 pictographs appear to be perfect images of
tokens, and more than 43 differ only in details.
This similarity does not seem fortuitous, and I pos-
tulate that there is a relationship between the shape
of the tokens and the shape of some of the first
pictographs. If I am correct and the pictographs are
indeed meant to render the shape of the tokens,
then a degree of schematization is to be expected
in the reduction of the three-dimensional objects
to their two-dimensional representation. In the fu-
ture, it will be interesting to study if recurrent pat-
terns of conventions can be traced.
As a rule, the contour of the object is faithfully
traced, and within this outline all various incised
or punched markings are drawn with accuracy.
The easiest forms to render were those with a
characteristic outline, such as biconoids, ovoids,
rhomboids, rectangles, vessels and animals. It is
plausible to assume that lines radiating from the
sides of some pictographs represent incisions on the
27 R. McC. Adarns, Land Behind Baghdad (Chicago 1965)
37.
28 T. Wright and A. Johnson, "Population, Exchange, and
Early State Formation in Southwestern Iran," American Anthropologist
77 (1975) 275.

1979 1 AN ARCHAIC RECORDING SYSTEM 25
base or side of the tokens (Appendix 11, Type 4,
3". The similarity between tokens and pictographs
appears logical when one remembers that they
were found at the same sites, in the same contexts
and in the same layers. In other words, they were
used by the same people at the same time. The
tokens and the tablets were two parallel recording
systems used in the late Uruk period, a time char-
acterized by great economic and cultural changes.
The token system was several millennia old and
writing was just emerging. In the archaic Uruk
tablets, which are the records of some administra-
tive center of a moderate or even large-scale dis-
tribution network, some of the words most frequently
used are related to food and commodities
of daily use such as bread, oil, garments and sheep.
One would expect the token system to have been
used to deal with exactly the same categories of
items. Indeed, among the pictographs that correspond
with tokens are those meaning bread, oil,
garments and sheep (Appendix 11). It should be
pointed out however that several translations of
pictographs such as Type V: 750 "heart-womb,"
and Type V, zd: 746 "trial, peace" do not seem
especially appropriate for tokens; knowledge of the
token system may lead to changes in translation.
While many theories have posited a "missing
link," we are fortunate that excavations at several
sites have produced pieces which prove the exist-
ence of a direct connection between the tokens and
writing. These are hollow clay balls that appear in
the fourth millennium B.C. and were used as
envelopes to enclose the tokens of special transac-
tions.'The envelopes were manufactured simply,
by pressing the fingers into a clay ball to provide a
cavity where the tokens were tucked; subsequently,
the cavity was closed with an additional patch of
clay. The various seal impressions found on the
exterior suggest that these envelopes were invented
in order to provide a clay surface where the various
interested parties could impress their seals for
authentication of the transaction.
A major disadvantage of the innovation was that
the opaque clay hid the number of tokens included
in the envelopes, so that any verification necessi-
tated the breaking of the clay ball with the seal-
ings. To overcome this shortcoming the images of
2gAmiet (supra n. 2) 69-70.
all tokens inside were reproduced on the surface
of the balls. This was done by a variety of techniques,
including marks impressed in the soft clay
with the tokens themselves, with the finger or
with a tool. We therefore find conical marks standing
for cones, for example, and circular marks for
spheres or discs. The most striking example comes
from Habuba Kabira where a clay ball with a deep
groove at the point of maximum diameter contained
6 tokens of ovoid shape. The tokens had
been pressed onto the clay surface of the ball and
still fit ~erfectl~ in the cavities they left. The design
produced in this manner was a concave ovoid
shape with a line in relief at the point of maximum
diameter, which is the pictograph for oil. These
marks were certainly not meant by their inventors
to supersede the token system,. but they did.
The innovation of using the images of the tokens
-i.e. signs-rather than the tokens themselves
proved much more efficient. Hollow clay balls
filled with tokens were in time replaced by full
clay balls-i.e. tablets-marked with signs. The
token system ushered in a new phase: writing. The
new technique of conveying information utilized
the same raw material as its predecessor: clay. It
inherited all the abstract shapes developed through
the millennia to represent the most common goods
and commodities. For example, sheep, which had
been represented as a disc with a cross, became an
incised circle with a cross. The two- and threedimensional
systems of recording must have coexisted
for a time, but each developed in its own
way. Writing proved a very adaptable instrument
and evolved to such an extent that it could express
any possible concept by phonetics. The token system,
relieved of all pressures, reverted to its former
use in household and market computations.
Used as a corollary of writing, it could even be
simplified into single token shapes, as in the modern
abacus.
CONCLUSION
A system of recording using clay tokens has
been discovered to have existed in the Middle East
as early as the ninth millennium B.C. From its
beginning it must have been well adapted to
household and public needs, as it exhibited little
change during its use through the millennia

26 DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT [AJA 83
that included the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Early
Bronze Ages.30 In the late Uruk period, ca. 3100
B.C., the system underwent profound changes ex-
pressed by a proliferation of graphic markings in
incised, punched and appliquC techniques. These
changes may be interpreted as an effort to satisfy
the new administrative needs of the emerging
states based on intensive exchanges of goods.
Other novelties in the system include the perfora-
tion of tokens, probably in order to string together
tokens of particular transactions, and the use of
30 Schmandt-Besserat 1978 (supra n. 3) 57.
clay envelopes to enclose tokens, which ultimately
provided a clay surface on which seals were impressed
to authenticate special transactions. This
particular use led to a new phase in which the
images of the tokens replaced the tokens them-
selves and thus resulted in the development of
writing.
CENTER FOR h1IDDLE EASTERN STUDIES
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
AUSTIN,
TEXAS 78712

The spheres are usually n~cely spher~cal, but as they are
modelled between the palms of the hands, many examples
show a tendency to be somewhat flatt~sh or ovo~d and others
are faceted
Appendix I
TYPE I
SPHERES
1 Pla~nspheres 14 4 2 4 3 2
2 W~thc~rcular
lmpresslons
V,
E
0
3
3 1
3 W~thnotches i ' 2 , 1 5 2
a
4 With ~nc~sed
pattern
5 P~nched
6 314 spheres
7 112 spheres
Total 60
a
C
I
2 I1
I I
i
I I
125 8 5 1
I
C
I
I
i ,
I
I
I
II
I
I
I

A Flattened Pellets
1 l a and f o a t a
a
DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT
TYPE I1
DISCS
2 W~tha
clrcular
Impresston 1 1
3 Wlth lnc~sed
llnes 3 1
P
0 L
Total flattened pellets 23 17 5 1
1
[AJA 83

4. Plain and
perforated
AN ARCHAIC RECORDING SYSTEM
TYPE I1
DISCS
6 Wlth decorated F=J=?
edge
7 One or several
parallel
lnc~sed llnes
8. Perpendicular
incised lines
9 Parallel
strokes
10 Circular
pattern
12. High discs
Total: 79
Total all discs: 103

5. All-over
incised
pattern
6. Special
shapes
IIENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT [AJA 83
TYPE 111
CONES

1 Plaln
2 W~th clrcular
lmpresslons
3 W~th lnclslons
4 W~thconcave
s~des
5 Inc~sed
base
6 Pyram~ds
AN ARCHAIC IIECORI)lhT(; SYSTEM
TYPE IV
TETRAHEDRONS 3 C
V,
2 1
4
1 3
1 2
Total 36 23 6 2 2 3
w w

I Plain
2 W~th
incisions
3. Round biconoids
with incisions
Total: 15
DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT
TYPE V
BICONOIDS
b
I '

impression
3. With one
incision
around the
maximum
diameter
4 With incision
5 With pellets
Total: 67 +
AN ARCHAIC RECORDING SYSTEM
TYPE VI
OVOIDS
C

1. Plain
2. Incised
coils
3. Incised
cylinders
coils
Total: 10
2. Loops
3. Incised
oval
Total: 33
DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT
TYPE VII
CYLINDERS
TYPE VIII
BENT COILS
V)
1
2 1
L
i

2. Circular impression
3 One med~an lnclslon
5. Three
~ncisions
6 Four lnclslons
9, lncis~onsat
the edge
Total: 132
AN ARCHAIC RECORDING SYSTEM
TYPE IX
TRIANGLES
--

DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT [AJA 83
TYPE X

1 Plain
2 W~thclrcular
lmpresslons
4 Wlth
slgns
AN ARCHAIC RECORDING SYSTEM
TYPE XI
Total 15 10 1 4
C
w w
1

DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT 1 AJA 83
TYPE XI1

I . Cups
2. Pitchers
3. Jars
Total: 23
AN ARCHAIC RECORI)IN

I Ent~re
anlmal
DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT [AJA 83
TYPE XIV
2 Heads
of an~rnals I. 8:.
3 Styl~zed
an~malheads
Total 9
-
a
ANIMALS C
*
TYPE XV
4
8
1
1
I

Appendix II
The numbers under the pictographs refer to the classification of Falkenstein (Archaische Texte aus Uruk
[Berlin 19361). The pictographs without numbers have been taken from the provisional list of archaic signs
of Uruk, Project Archaische Texte aus Uruk, Freie Universitat, Berlin (M.W. Green and D. Schmandt-Besserat).

Type I1
DISCS
SIMILAR SHAPES RELATSD SHAPES
-Tokens @ @ @ @ @ '.-.
la-4a 3a-7a 7b 7c 7d 8 a 8d 9a 2a-5a 10a
Pictographs nLd o @ @ @ @ /;D kg
ATU 753 754 755 798 761 763 803
Sumerian lagab dur2 tug2 sig2 udu u8 silak
slab, block type of
Translation total, seat, cloth, wsol garment sheep ewe lamb
circle to sit garment or cloth
Type I11
CONES
vpv r#Vp ",
'VL V'V;q (y 7
Tokens
1a 2 3a 5'2 la 4a lb 1c 5a 5c 5d
Pictographs D D jC> PA kDp Bb
ATU 892 899 905 526 535 736 737 550
Sumerian kak ninda ir ir
"slta %em3
Translation 1 60 600 some nail bread typeof perfume ? ? type of ?
number CUP drum

19791
AN ARCHAIC RECORDING SYSTEM

DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT [AJA 83

19791 AN ARCHAIC RECORDING SYSTEM 45

46 DENISE SCHMANDT-RESSERAT [AJA 83

48 DENISE SCHMANDT-BESSERAT [AJA 83
2
14
4
.I2
rn
0
Y
E+
4
d
rq
n:
v)
W
6%
3
cr)
H
v3
;
L-
HV)
a s
PP
b
rJl
2
% g
it.
a
s
4
k
M
0
C,
0 9
kl
k
3
P
>u)
@.
M
o
a
o
;t
#I3
m
c-
&I
o
~ M r I
2
d
m
B
2
k 59
1
z 2 H : : a z
8%
7
.LL
a
!3
E-c %
m
2:
n
(d
k
M
0
a
0
z
a3
3
S
2 2
P
3
d
m e
c.
3
d
2
.-I
Ik
4

SCHMANDT-BESSERAT PLATE I
FI.G. I. Incised tokens. Susa. (Mude du Louvre, Dkpartement des AntiquitCs Orientales, Paris)
FIG. 2. Tokens with circular impressions. Susa. (MusCe du Louvre, Wpartement des AntiquitCs Orientales, Paris)
FIG. 3. Perforated tokens. Susa. (MusCe du Louvre, DCpartement des AntiquitCs Orientales, Paris)
FIG. 4. Parabolae. Susa. (MusCe du Louvre, DCpartement des AntiquitCs Orientales, Paris)