[liberallarry]

It's been a long time and I've forgotten the technical terms.

But weren't small containers with external markings indicating their contents used for a very long time in commercial transactions in Mesopotamia prior to the invention of writing? From something like 8000 to 4000 B.C.?

[blam]

Click on the below link and go to post #18 to see some old writing.

Lost Civilisation From 7,500BC Discovered Off Indian Coast (That's 9,500 years ago)

[D-fendr]

I remember something like "bola" or "boola". The theory was that writing evolved from bills of lading.

The seller would put small tokens of different shapes inside a sealed clay pot. The buyer would break the pot to compare with the arrived shipment (animals, grain, etc.).

The theory is that, in order to know the correct shipment along the way - without breaking open the container - impressions of the tokens were made on the outside of the container.

It was a short step from there to realizing you don't need the container any more.

I believe this is what you're talking about. It was the work of a profesor at the University of Texas at Austin.