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The world鈥檚 oldest known writing system may have had its origins in the imagery on decorated cylinders used to denote ownership or record transactions. Some of the symbols on these cylinder seals correspond to those used in proto-cuneiform, a form of proto-writing used in Mesopotamia.

The finding indicates that the invention of writing in Mesopotamia was a decentralised process, in which many people across a wide area contributed to the set of symbols used.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been this longstanding reconstruction of how writing appeared in Mesopotamia, which is arguably the earliest invention of writing in the world,鈥� says at the University of Bologna in Italy. 鈥淲e鈥檙e retracing the trajectory in a way that鈥檚 more, I would say, colourful, less straitjacketed.鈥�

The oldest known true writing system is cuneiform, invented around 3200 BC in Mesopotamia. It was preceded by a simpler system called proto-cuneiform, which was in use from 3350 to 3000 BC.

Proto-writing like proto-cuneiform is distinguished by a lack of grammatical rules, which means it cannot convey complex meanings, says at the University of Reading in the UK, who wasn鈥檛 involved in the research. For instance, proto-cuneiform can be used to label something as 鈥渟even bushels of wheat鈥�, but only true writing like cuneiform can say 鈥渟even bushels of wheat will be delivered to you鈥�.

The origins of proto-cuneiform have often been traced to clay tokens. These came in a variety of shapes, such as discs and spheres, and were often engraved with patterns. The tokens could be pressed into wet clay, creating a symbol. Some of the symbols on the tokens are similar to those found in proto-cuneiform, as documented by at the University of Texas at Austin in her two-volume book in 1992.

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There is some evidence for a role of tokens in the origin of proto-cuneiform, says Ferrara. 鈥淏ut you cannot explain all the signs.鈥�

Ferrara and her colleagues and , also at the University of Bologna, have instead explored another source of symbols: cylinder seals. These cylindrical objects have patterns and images embossed on them, and leave a rectangular collection of symbols when rolled over sheets of wet clay. The symbols often referred to goods being transported, or to administrators involved in transactions, says Cartolano.

The team examined cylinder seals from a wide area of south-west Asia, including Mesopotamia, that dated to 4400 to 3400 BC. They found several symbols that corresponded to proto-cuneiform symbols.

鈥淥ne of the clearest examples that we found is the use of the images of fringed cloth and vessel in a net,鈥� says Cartolano. These have well-understood meanings: they refer to the transport of goods. And they are found both on cylinder seals and proto-cuneiform tablets.

The idea that the symbols on cylinder seals led to some of the symbols in proto-cuneiform was previously suggested by at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in and developed in . 鈥淚 am gratified that, 30 years after I first proposed the fundamental role of seal imagery in the origins of proto-cuneiform script, that a new generation of scholars have taken up my idea and, with their expertise in cuneiform script, have put details to my argument,鈥� says Pittman. She adds that in the 1990s her idea was dismissed 鈥渨ithout serious consideration鈥�.

鈥淚 find it to be very convincing,鈥� says Richardson. 鈥淭here does seem to be a really neat correlation in the particular examples that they鈥檙e illustrating in this article.鈥� Her own research has found that cylinder seals were also used .

This doesn鈥檛 mean that tokens didn鈥檛 play a role. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 still some strong arguments to make that those tokens really are part of the foundation of abstraction,鈥� says Richardson. In particular, they seem to have been important for the development of counting systems.

If proto-cuneiform really did arise in this hodge-podge way, drawn from tokens, cylinder seals and possibly other sources, it may tell us something about who was inventing it, says Ferrara. 鈥淭here is evidence for making a claim that the invention of writing in Mesopotamia was, in fact, much more decentralised than we think,鈥� she says. While powerful people in the major city of Uruk no doubt played a role, perhaps so did other administrators and tradespeople scattered over the region. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 evidence for having a more widespread鈥� and more distributed prompt to writing,鈥� she says.

Writing was first used for administration, not for storytelling. 鈥淭hose first written records tend to be about trying to organise materials, goods, people, things,鈥� says Richardson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very much about trying to find ways of creating a social system.鈥�