ABSTRACT
Denise Schmandt-Besserat is an archaeologist working at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work on early symbol systems leading to the origin of writing is currently influencing students in a wide range of disciplines. This chapter deals with the place of tokens among other prehistoric symbolic systems. After presenting relevant aspects of symbolism from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic period, it analyzes what the tokens owed to their antecedents, how they revolutionized the use of symbols, and how they presaged writing. Symbols are things whose special meaning allows us to conceive, express, and communicate ideas. Like symbols, signs are things that convey meaning, but they differ in carrying narrow, precise, and unambiguous information. From the beginnings of humanity, symbols have encapsulated the knowledge, experience, and beliefs of all people. The same symbolic tradition continues in the Upper Paleolithic and the Mesolithic.
