Denise Schmandt-Besserat

How Writing Came About (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

An "utterly lucid, thoughtfully illustrated, and thoroughly convincing" book on the origins of the world's oldest known system of writing ( American Journal of Archaeology). One of American Scientist's Top 100 Books on Science, 2001 In 1992, the University of Texas Press published Before Writing, Volume I: From Counting to Cuneiform and Before Writing, Volume II: A Catalog of Near Eastern Tokens. In these two volumes, Denise Schmandt-Besserat set forth her groundbreaking theory that the cuneiform script invented in the Near East in the late fourth millennium B.C.-the world's oldest known system of writing-derived from an archaic counting device. How Writing Came About draws material from both volumes of this scholarly work to present Schmandt-Besserat's theory in an abridged version for a wide public and classroom audience. Based on the analysis and interpretation of a selection of 8,000 tokens or counters from 116 sites in Iran, Iraq, the Levant, and Turkey, it documents the immediate precursor of the cuneiform script.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: University of Texas Press
• Seitenzahl: 207
• Erscheinungstermin: 24. Februar 2022
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780292774865
• Artikelnr.: 63556489

Autorenporträt

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

Inhaltsangabe

1. Preface
2. Introduction: Tokens, a New Theory
* The Myths
* The Pictographic Theory
* Tokens
3. Part One: The Evidence
4. 1. What Are Tokens?
* Types and Subtypes
* Evolution from Plain to Complex Materials
* Manufacture
* The Token Collection under Study
5. 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
6. 3.Strings of Tokens and Envelopes
* Strings of Tokens
* Envelopes
7. 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
8. Part Two: The Interpretation
9. 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
10. 6. Tokens: The Socioeconomic Implications
* Reckoning Technology and Economy
* Reckoning Technology and Social Organization
11. 7. Counting and the Emergence of Writing
* The Various Modes of Counting
* The Sumerian Philological Evidence
* The Near Eastern Archaeological Data
12. 8. Conclusions: Tokens, Their Role in Prehistory and Their Contribution to
Archaeology
* Economy
* Political Structure
* Mathematics
* Communication
13. Part Three: The Artifacts
* Cones
* Spheres
* Disks
* Cylinders
* Tetrahedrons
* Ovoids
* Quadrangles
* Triangles
* Biconoids
* Paraboloids
* Bent Coils
* Ovals/Rhomboids
* Vessels
* Tools
* Animals
* Miscellaneous
14. Notes
15. Glossary
16. Index