Workshop: Genesis of Writing

Glottographic writing is known to have originated independently of any pre-existing writing four times in antiquity, in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Mesoamerica. For each of these areas scholars past and present, relying chiefly on archaeological finds, have explored the ‘origins’ of writing and have attempted to reconstruct the structure of early writing systems. Beyond this, considerable recent research has dealt with the ‘prehistory’ of writing, seeking to bridge the gap between a stage of non-writing marks and marking systems and that of writing, again relying on archaeological findings, but this time on earlier occurrences of signs suggestive of later writing. Finally, scholars of cognitive science and neuropsychology have contributed studies on the human brain, including among the most recent work Material Engagement Theory, drawing attention to the mediating role of material things in shaping the human mind. Such studies have clear implications for the study of the origin and early development of writing systems.

1) What is known or can be inferred or surmised about the origin and early development of writing in each of these four ancient societies and to what extent these patterns of development are comparable or parallel with one another.

2) Since writing did not arise in all human groups in antiquity, what were the features of the ones where it did, both contemporaneously and prehistorically, that might account for the emergence of glottographic writing and might explain the apparent parallel processes of the early development of writing in these four ancient civilizations?