Tokens

At around 9000 BC (during the early Neolithic period), small tokens of clay molded into geometric shapes begin to emerge across the Near East in the archaeological record.

Developing in parallel with the domestication of cereal crops and the creation of food reserves in the Fertile Crescent, these tokens were used as counters, representing goods like grain, textile, and animals (Schmandt-Besserat).

Simple tokens saw continuous use for a period of over 5000 years until a shift took place at the dawn of the Urban Period (3500-3100 BC): amidst the formation of city-states like Sumer and an increasing amount of commodity manufacturing, the simple geometric designs of the tokens were becoming inadequate to convey the amount of qualitative information necessary for administration (Schmandt-Besserat). Here, more complex tokens emerge in the archaeological record, bearing designs with lines, dots, wedges, and holes. Examples of both kinds of tokens are shown on the left.