ABSTRACT
In the past, some scholars have dichotomized human societies into the civilized and noncivilized and have equated the civilized with the presence of written languages. Recent studies of the emergence of civilizations demonstrate that noncivilized and civilized societies cannot be cleanly dichotomized (Couch 1984) and that some nonliterate societies, such as the Chimu and Inca, merit the designation of civilization. In addition, studies of the emergence of the Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations (Larsen 1988; Baines 1988) indicate that those civilizations were in place before a written language was developed. All modem civilizations, however, would collapse if their citizens lost their ability to write and read. Students, from kindergarten through graduate school, spend a substantial amount of their time mastering reading and writing and those who fail to become literate usually live on the fringes of contemporary society.
