Before cuneiform, however, humans used a simpler writing system called proto-cuneiform that appeared around 3350 to 3000 B.C.E. These early writing systems featured symbols that were pressed or ...

Researchers investigating how the first writing arose identified the motifs on preliterate "cylinder seals" used in the trade of agricultural products and textiles.

It appears carved into monuments, engraved on metal objects and, like cuneiform and the Proto-Elamite writing that appeared before it, inscribed on clay. Around half of all existing texts were ...