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Title: Was writing invented by accountants?
Review: Some of the evidence presented in this book is sketchy, and ignores contrary evidence presented elsewhere. Nevertheless, Rudgley builds a solid case for considering whether ancient civilisations were quite a bit more advanced than we think.I was particularly taken with the idea that writing was invented by accountants. Apparently, clay tokens were made in the thousands to help people count how many cattle were being sold or transported. Later, they encased them in clay containers. Later still, they marked the outside before the container was fired, to show how many containers were inside it. This meant that they didn't need to break the container to count them.And hey presto, you have representational markings that later developed into written language.The book also covers things like knives, surgery, fire, mining, art, musical instruments, all existing in the Upper Paleolithic Period, way before the generally accepted periods for these developments.
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