Clay objects as ‘tokens’? Evidence for early counting and administration at Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Mesopotamia

Abstract

Tell Sabi Abyad was a major Neolithic settlement in upper Mesopotamia, occupied for 1,800 years during the 7 th to 6 th millennium BC. Excavations have revealed hundreds of clay sealings, stamp-seal impressions and an even greater number of small, geometric-shaped clay objects or 'tokens'. Drawing on previous unpublished data from decades of excavations, a detailed, contextual study of the form and distribution of Tell Sabi Abyad's 'tokens' is presented. Though likely used as counting tools in certain specific occupational areas and levels, the evidence does not suggest a singular universal role of geometric clay objects as mnemonic accounting devices.

Reconsidering ‘Tokens’: The Neolithic Origins of Accounting or Multifunctional, Utilitarian Tools?

“…By the Late Neolithic (seventh and sixth millennia bc ), clay objects are present in abundance at a large number of sites across the region, being particularly characteristic of ‘Halaf’ settlements. However they are not an essential element of Neolithic life, remaining absent at other sites (including Ebaba, Jani, Musular, Pinarbasi, Shir, Wadi Shu'eib, for example: see Supplementary Material (a)) (Bennison-Chapman 2014). Nor do they disappear, being replaced by writing in the third millennium bc .…”

“…However, density analysis at Boncuklu Höyük proves that, proportionately, clay objects are most commonly recovered from building ‘floor surface’ contexts, presumably representing the location of primary use. Boncuklu's three most common shapes (spheres, ovoids and discs) co-occur in almost every building where clay objects are found (Bennison-Chapman 2014, fig. 6.14).…”

“…The presence of caches of large numbers of small, unfired spheres, recovered exclusively together in pits or basins, sealed with plaster under building floors (F. 758, which contained n = 727 ‘mini clay balls’ inside, for example: see Atalay 2012, 14/5–6) are rare yet notable, suggesting a special function for at least some of Çatalhöyük's spherical clay objects. Aside from these few examples, artefact clusters incorporating clay objects at Çatalhöyük are extremely rare, and contain between one to three clay objects in addition to items such as ground stone artefacts and animal bones (Bennison-Chapman 2014, table 7.11). No examples hint at the presence of portable containers to be carried, passed from person to person, or used to hold clay objects as a permanent archive of a transaction, as has been suggested for the Neolithic period (Schmandt-Besserat 1992a, 97) and later seen in the use of bullae from the fourth millennium bc onwards.…”

“…Those recovered from ‘external’ open-air contexts tend to be recovered as lone, single objects. Clay objects recovered from ‘internal spaces’ tend to come from two extremes, either rooms containing only one or two clay objects and few other artefacts, or from rooms full of up to 100 or more clay objects and similar artefact types (Akkermans & Verhoeven 1995, 13, 15, 24; Akkermans et al 2006, 129, 131–2; 2012, table 2; Bennison-Chapman 2014, tables 8.21, 8.23 & 8.25). It is tempting to interpret the latter as evidence that clay objects were used together.…”

“…It is unlikely clay objects were stored, as the number of broken sealings recovered (201 in Room 6 Building III, 36 in Room 7 Building V, for example) far outnumbers the quantities of clay objects (40 and 7 in the same locations, respectively) (Akkermans & Duistermaat 1996, fig. 1; Bennison-Chapman 2014, table 8.23). Yet the co-occurrence of the largest quantities of clay sealings and clay objects in the same rooms shows a clear connection between the two within operation I's level 6 village ( c. 6010–5995 cal.…”