Table of Contents

• Preface
• Introduction: Tokens, a New Theory
  • The Myths
  • The Pictographic Theory
  • Tokens
• Part One: The Evidence
  • 1. What Are Tokens?
    • Types and Subtypes
    • Evolution from Plain to Complex Materials
    • Manufacture
    • The Token Collection under Study
  • 2. Where Tokens Were Handled and Who Used Them
    • Types of Settlements
    • Distribution within Settlements
    • Structures
    • Token Clusters
    • Containers Holding Tokens
    • Associated Assemblages
    • Tokens as Funerary Offerings
  • 3.Strings of Tokens and Envelopes
    • Strings of Tokens
    • Envelopes
  • 4. Impressed Tablets
    • Number
    • Context
    • Chronology
    • Description
    • The Signs
    • Beyond the Impressed Tablets: Pictography
    • The Meaning of Signs and Their Corresponding Tokens
    • The Place of Impressed Tablets in the Evolution of Writing
• Part Two: The Interpretation
  • 5. The Evolution of Symbols in Prehistory
    • Symbols and Signs
    • Lower and Middle Paleolithic Symbols
    • Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic Symbols
    • Neolithic Symbols
    • A Turning Point in Communication and Data Storage
  • 6. Tokens: The Socioeconomic Implications
    • Reckoning Technology and Economy
    • Reckoning Technology and Social Organization
  • 7. Counting and the Emergence of Writing
    • The Various Modes of Counting
    • The Sumerian Philological Evidence
    • The Near Eastern Archaeological Data
  • 8. Conclusions: Tokens, Their Role in Prehistory and Their Contribution to Archaeology
    • Economy
    • Political Structure
    • Mathematics
    • Communication
• Part Three: The Artifacts
  • Cones
  • Spheres
  • Disks
  • Cylinders
  • Tetrahedrons
  • Ovoids
  • Quadrangles
  • Triangles
  • Biconoids
  • Paraboloids
  • Bent Coils
  • Ovals/Rhomboids
  • Vessels
  • Tools
  • Animals
  • Miscellaneous
• Notes
• Glossary
• Index

About the Author

Denise Schmandt-Besserat is Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Reviews

Discoveries in the history of writing are rare, but Denise Schmandt-Besserat made one in realizing that phonetic writing in the West descends not from pictography, a view repeated everywhere, but from abstract, nonphonetic, mostly noniconographic accounting tokens used in Neolithic farming communities of the Near East beginning from about 8000 B.C. A condensation of volume I of Before Writing ...this book is a perfect production, utterly lucid, thoughtfully illustrated, and thoroughly convincing.
*American Journal of Archaeology*