Section: Social Complexity / Kinds of Written Documents
Variable: Lists Tables And Classification (All coded records)
Talking about Kinds of Written Documents, NO_DESCRIPTIONS_IN_CODEBOOK  
Lists Tables And Classification
#  Polity  Coded Value Tags Year(s) Edit Desc
1 Early Qing present Confident Expert -
e.g. list of general admonitions in mnemonic form [1]

[1]: (Woolley 2016, p.82)


2 Late Qing present Confident Expert -
e.g. tax collection and registration system lichia [1]

[1]: (Smith 2015, 112)


3 Archaic Basin of Mexico absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)


4 Initial Formative Basin of Mexico absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)


5 Early Formative Basin of Mexico absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)


6 Middle Formative Basin of Mexico absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)


7 Late Formative Basin of Mexico absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)


8 Terminal Formative Basin of Mexico absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)


9 Epiclassic Basin of Mexico absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)


10 Toltecs absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)


11 Middle Postclassic Basin of Mexico absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)


12 Aztec Empire absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)


13 Hawaii I absent Confident Expert -
The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


14 Hawaii II absent Confident Expert -
Writing was introduced by Christian missionaries starting from the 1820s [1] .

[1]: (Kuykendall 1938, 102-118)


15 Hawaii III absent Confident Expert -
"The lack of a writing system is also noteworthy, although Hawai’i is not the only archaic state with this deficiency; the Inka similarly lacked written texts." [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75)


16 Kingdom of Hawaii - Kamehameha Period absent Confident Expert -
Writing was introduced by Christian missionaries starting from the 1820s [1] .

[1]: (Kuykendall 1938, 102-118)


17 Kingdom of Hawaii - Post-Kamehameha Period present Confident -
“Kalākaua’s and Gibson’s “New Departure” into pan-Oceanianism also involved intensified data and item collecting. Building on St. Julian’s correspondence and reports, including Reeve’s invaluable 1857 gazetteer, Gibson’s department was interested in extending its knowledge of the region. A 1989 index of registered maps lists about a hundred maps of Oceania other than the Hawaiian Islands in the Hawaiian Government Survey’s collection, most of them British and US naval charts, others manuscript maps, some of them possibly made by Hawaiian expeditions to these islands.” [1]

[1]: (Gonschor 2019: 94) Gonschor, Lorenz. 2019. A Power in the World: The Hawaiian Kingdom in Oceania. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FB64GREZ


18 Cahokia - Early Woodland absent Confident Expert -
-
19 Cahokia - Middle Woodland absent Confident Expert -
-
20 Cahokia - Late Woodland I absent Confident Expert -
-
21 Cahokia - Late Woodland II absent Confident Expert -
-
22 Cahokia - Late Woodland III absent Confident Expert -
-
23 Cahokia - Emergent Mississippian I absent Confident Expert -
-
24 Cahokia - Sand Prairie absent Confident Expert -
-
25 Oneota absent Confident Expert -
Certainly absent.
26 Early Illinois Confederation unknown Suspected Expert -
-
27 Cahokia - Lohman-Stirling absent Confident Expert -
-
28 Cahokia - Moorehead absent Confident Expert -
-
29 Cahokia - Emergent Mississippian II absent Confident Expert -
-
30 Funan I present Confident Expert -
’There can hardly be any doubt that the polities within Cambodia from the 7th to the 13th centuries were mainly agrarian, their development of written records very high for the period, these records largely concerned with economic and administrative matters, and that by the Angkor period temples had political and economic managerial functions. The notable Southeast Asian societies without an impressive epigraphic tradition, such as Funan, Srivijaya, Ayutthaya, and Pregu, were preeminently maritime trading polities.’ [1] ’The archaeological hardware of these vital centuries is provided by the surviving temples, reservoirs and rice fields, but the social software has to be teased out of the surviving inscriptions. Carved onto stone stelae, these were inscribed in Sanskrit and old Khmer languages. Nearly all relate to the foundation and administration of a temple. They regularly refer to a ruler or the title and name of a local grandee associated with the temple foundation and its maintenance. The Khmer text includes information on rice fields, their boundaries, donations of surplus products to the temple, and the number and duties of individuals assigned to its support.’ [2] ’From 550 AD, a network of powerful chiefdoms emerged in the interior of Cambodia, under the generic name Chenla. By this period, paramounts were setting up inscriptions to record their august genealogies and achievements. These were carved in Sanskrit, but some texts were written in Old Khmer. These provide us with a vital glimpse of the religious beliefs under the veneer of Hindu worship.’ [3] ’The Sanskrit text began with a eulogy of the king, if it was a royal foundation, followed by a list of donations, such as workers and land, which was written in Khmer.’ [4]

[1]: (Vickery 1998, p. 99)

[2]: (Higham 2014, p. 830)

[3]: (Higham 2011, p. 475)

[4]: (Higham 2014b, p. 293)


31 Funan II present Confident Expert -
’There can hardly be any doubt that the polities within Cambodia from the 7th to the 13th centuries were mainly agrarian, their development of written records very high for the period, these records largely concerned with economic and administrative matters, and that by the Angkor period temples had political and economic managerial functions. The notable Southeast Asian societies without an impressive epigraphic tradition, such as Funan, Srivijaya, Ayutthaya, and Pregu, were preeminently maritime trading polities.’ [1] ’The archaeological hardware of these vital centuries is provided by the surviving temples, reservoirs and rice fields, but the social software has to be teased out of the surviving inscriptions. Carved onto stone stelae, these were inscribed in Sanskrit and old Khmer languages. Nearly all relate to the foundation and administration of a temple. They regularly refer to a ruler or the title and name of a local grandee associated with the temple foundation and its maintenance. The Khmer text includes information on rice fields, their boundaries, donations of surplus products to the temple, and the number and duties of individuals assigned to its support.’ [2] ’From 550 AD, a network of powerful chiefdoms emerged in the interior of Cambodia, under the generic name Chenla. By this period, paramounts were setting up inscriptions to record their august genealogies and achievements. These were carved in Sanskrit, but some texts were written in Old Khmer. These provide us with a vital glimpse of the religious beliefs under the veneer of Hindu worship.’ [3] ’The Sanskrit text began with a eulogy of the king, if it was a royal foundation, followed by a list of donations, such as workers and land, which was written in Khmer.’ [4]

[1]: (Vickery 1998, p. 99)

[2]: (Higham 2014, p. 830)

[3]: (Higham 2011, p. 475)

[4]: (Higham 2014b, p. 293)


32 Chenla present Confident Expert -
’There can hardly be any doubt that the polities within Cambodia from the 7th to the 13th centuries were mainly agrarian, their development of written records very high for the period, these records largely concerned with economic and administrative matters, and that by the Angkor period temples had political and economic managerial functions. The notable Southeast Asian societies without an impressive epigraphic tradition, such as Funan, Srivijaya, Ayutthaya, and Pregu, were preeminently maritime trading polities.’ [1] ’The archaeological hardware of these vital centuries is provided by the surviving temples, reservoirs and rice fields, but the social software has to be teased out of the surviving inscriptions. Carved onto stone stelae, these were inscribed in Sanskrit and old Khmer languages. Nearly all relate to the foundation and administration of a temple. They regularly refer to a ruler or the title and name of a local grandee associated with the temple foundation and its maintenance. The Khmer text includes information on rice fields, their boundaries, donations of surplus products to the temple, and the number and duties of individuals assigned to its support.’ [2] ’From 550 AD, a network of powerful chiefdoms emerged in the interior of Cambodia, under the generic name Chenla. By this period, paramounts were setting up inscriptions to record their august genealogies and achievements. These were carved in Sanskrit, but some texts were written in Old Khmer. These provide us with a vital glimpse of the religious beliefs under the veneer of Hindu worshi’ [3] ’The Sanskrit text began with a eulogy of the king, if it was a royal foundation, followed by a list of donations, such as workers and land, which was written in Khmer.’ [4]

[1]: (Vickery 1998, 99)

[2]: (Higham 2014, 830)

[3]: (Higham 2011, 475)

[4]: (Higham 2014b, 293)


33 Early Angkor present Confident Expert -
According to Miriam Stark, ’[i]ndividuals increased their karma for the next life by establishing temples or making donations to extant temple (see also Hagesteijn 1996:189, passim). Entrenched and aspiring elite members recorded their temple offerings in stone. Such activity is clear in the earliest dated Khmer inscription (K. 600) from Angkor Borei in southern Cambodia. This inscription lists donations to the temple/foundation by two elite individuals: nine males, nine females, two children, eighty head of cattle, two buffalo, ten goats, forty coconut trees, and two rice fields (Vickery 1998:227)’, [1] and ’most indigenous inscriptions record the beneficence of aspiring elite individuals’ [2] , and ’[g]enealogies frequently appear in royal inscriptions [...]’ [3] ’From its earliest appearance, the Khmer language adopted a great many lexical terms from Sanskrit (Bhattacharya 1991: 6; Pou 2003: 283). However, the content of the Khmer inscriptions differ markedly from the Sanskrit ones. They are not addressed to gods, but to a temporal audience: authorities and officials, relatives of the founders, and in their broad imprecations, to the world in general. The authors tend not to express a political agenda here, in that they do not praise or assert power. The Khmer inscriptions seem more like legal documents - they often record the history of endowments made to foundations and they establish the ownership of land, setting out the rights of the foundation and the founder’s family. Vickery (1985) has suggested that many such texts in the 10th and 11th centuries have a certain political agenda on the part of the authors, who often appear to be concerned with their claims to titles and land. The texts may list and describe in detail the property of the foundation, record the donors, the circumstances under which land was acquired, the price paid, and settlement of disputes by courts. They may note the weight, quantity and material of temple ‘treasure’ or objects used in exchanges, the rice production of foundation lands, sometimes their location and dimensions. Requirements for continuing support for divinities and temple personnel may be set out and personnel might be listed, sometimes by name, gender, dependents, duties or place of origin, or else as totals. The texts may also refer to imposts or immunities granted to the foundations. The king is frequently acknowledged in inscriptions authored by individuals other than rulers, and a date is often recorded. The king is depicted as having a key role in state administration, establishing inquiries and being at least nominally responsible for legal decisions, ordering building works to be initiated, etc. There is an emphasis on the role of the ruler or of his predecessors in giving land, granting permission to purchase it or materially supporting the foundation, presumably placing the founder and his relatives under some future obligations. The authors record the merit, accrued by the ruler through his generosity, which is mostly dealt with poetically in the Sanskrit texts. Inscriptions written by rulers in Old Khmer are edicts relating mostly to matters of law, temple administration or land allocation and taxation. The texts are somewhat formulaic, though of varying length. Presumably, wealthier temples had more resources warranting recording, and had more literate scribes to produce the texts.’ [4]

[1]: (Stark, Miriam 2006, p.160-161)

[2]: (Stark, Miriam 2010, p. 144)

[3]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.161)

[4]: (Lustig 2009, p. 108)


34 Classical Angkor present Confident Expert -
According to Miriam Stark, ’[i]ndividuals increased their karma for the next life by establishing temples or making donations to extant temple (see also Hagesteijn 1996:189, passim). Entrenched and aspiring elite members recorded their temple offerings in stone. Such activity is clear in the earliest dated Khmer inscription (K. 600) from Angkor Borei in southern Cambodia. This inscription lists donations to the temple/foundation by two elite individuals: nine males, nine females, two children, eighty head of cattle, two buffalo, ten goats, forty coconut trees, and two rice fields (Vickery 1998:227)’, [1] and ’most indigenous inscriptions record the beneficence of aspiring elite individuals’ [2] , and ’[g]enealogies frequently appear in royal inscriptions [...]’ [3] ’Exceptions are several important Sanskrit inscriptions, which include lists of gifts or temple supplies (e.g., inscriptions of the Jayavarman VII period - the hospital stelae; K. 273/ 1186, K. 908/1191 and K. 180/ 948; and the bilingual inscriptions, K. 254/1126 and K. 235/1052. In a few instances, Khmer authors use Sanskrit in the opening formulae of texts. In Pre- Angkorian texts, there may be short imprecatory passages, usually at the end, which are all or partly in Sanskrit.’ [4]

[1]: (Stark, Miriam 2006, p.160-161)

[2]: (Stark, Miriam 2010, p. 144)

[3]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.161)

[4]: (Lustig 2009, p. 107)


35 Late Angkor present Confident Expert -
According to Miriam Stark, ’[i]ndividuals increased their karma for the next life by establishing temples or making donations to extant temple (see also Hagesteijn 1996:189, passim). Entrenched and aspiring elite members recorded their temple offerings in stone. Such activity is clear in the earliest dated Khmer inscription (K. 600) from Angkor Borei in southern Cambodia. This inscription lists donations to the temple/foundation by two elite individuals: nine males, nine females, two children, eighty head of cattle, two buffalo, ten goats, forty coconut trees, and two rice fields (Vickery 1998:227)’, [1] and ’most indigenous inscriptions record the beneficence of aspiring elite individuals’ [2] , and ’[g]enealogies frequently appear in royal inscriptions [...]’ [3] ’Exceptions are several important Sanskrit inscriptions, which include lists of gifts or temple supplies (e.g., inscriptions of the Jayavarman VII period - the hospital stelae; K. 273/ 1186, K. 908/1191 and K. 180/ 948; and the bilingual inscriptions, K. 254/1126 and K. 235/1052. In a few instances, Khmer authors use Sanskrit in the opening formulae of texts. In Pre- Angkorian texts, there may be short imprecatory passages, usually at the end, which are all or partly in Sanskrit.’ [4]

[1]: (Stark, Miriam 2006, p.160-161)

[2]: (Stark, Miriam 2010, p. 144)

[3]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.161)

[4]: (Lustig 2009, p. 107)


36 Khmer Kingdom present Confident Expert -
According to Miriam Stark, ’[i]ndividuals increased their karma for the next life by establishing temples or making donations to extant temple (see also Hagesteijn 1996:189, passim). Entrenched and aspiring elite members recorded their temple offerings in stone. Such activity is clear in the earliest dated Khmer inscription (K. 600) from Angkor Borei in southern Cambodia. This inscription lists donations to the temple/foundation by two elite individuals: nine males, nine females, two children, eighty head of cattle, two buffalo, ten goats, forty coconut trees, and two rice fields (Vickery 1998:227)’, [1] and ’most indigenous inscriptions record the beneficence of aspiring elite individuals’ [2] , and ’[g]enealogies frequently appear in royal inscriptions [...]’ [3]

[1]: (Stark, Miriam 2006, p.160-161)

[2]: (Stark, Miriam 2010, p. 144)

[3]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.161)


37 Ayutthaya present Confident Expert -
Thai medical texts provide quite elaborate lists and classifications of different kinds of illnesses [1] .

[1]: (Bamber 1987)


38 Rattanakosin present Confident Expert -
"The conventional yardstick used to differentiate people was language. Foreigners as a category were called the people of the ’12 languages’ or ’40 languages’. In the 1830s, these were partly catalogues in a display at Bangkok’s Wat Pho, with 27 different peoples each portrayed on a door panel and described in an accompanying poem." [1]

[1]: (Baker and Phongpaichit 2009, p. 62)


39 Medang Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
Literate culture.
40 Mataram Sultanate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
41 Chuuk - Early Truk absent Confident Expert -
SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’.
42 Chuuk - Late Truk present Inferred Expert -
SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ We have assumed there that native petty officials would have handled lists and classifications when working with the colonial administration.
43 Neolithic Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
44 Prepalatial Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
45 Old Palace Crete present Confident Expert -
Most documents written in Cretan Hieroglyphic have an administrative purpose containing lists of agricultural commodities, people and livestock. [1] [2]

[1]: Karnava, A. 2000. The Cretan Hieroglyphic Script of the Second Millennium BC: Description, analysis, Function and Decipherment Perspectives (Ph.D: University of Bruxelles), 240-41

[2]: Tomas, H. 2010. "Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A," in Cline, E. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean, Oxford, 345-46.


46 New Palace Crete present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Tomas, H. 2010. " Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A," in n Cline, E.H. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean (ca. 3000-1000 BC), Oxford, 341-55.


47 Monopalatial Crete present Confident Expert -
-
48 Postpalatial Crete present Confident Expert -
-
49 Final Postpalatial Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
50 Archaic Crete present Confident Expert -
-
51 Classical Crete present Confident Expert -
-
52 Hellenistic Crete present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Chaniotis, A. 1897. "Κλασική και Ελληνιστική Κρήτη," in Panagiotakis, N. (ed.), Κρήτη: Ιστορία και Πολιτισμός, Heraklion, 236-46.


53 Roman Empire - Principate present Confident Expert -
-
54 Roman Empire - Dominate present Confident Expert -
-
55 East Roman Empire present Confident Expert -
-
56 Byzantine Empire I present Confident Expert -
Preiser-Kapeller says present. [1] E.g. tax assessment known as the kataster, "a central tax list covering all the cultivatable land". [2]

[1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences)

[2]: (Haussig 1971, 174) Haussig, H W.trans Hussey, J M. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson.


57 The Emirate of Crete present Confident Expert -
E.g the so-called kataster, the central tax list covering all the cultivatable land. [1]

[1]: Haussig, H. W. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization, London, 174.


58 Byzantine Empire II present Confident Expert -
Preiser-Kapeller says present. [1] E.g. tax assessment known as the kataster, "a central tax list covering all the cultivatable land". [2]

[1]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences)

[2]: (Haussig 1971, 174) Haussig, H W.trans Hussey, J M. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson.


59 Byzantine Empire III present Confident Expert -
Preiser-Kapeller says present. [1] E.g. tax assessment known as the kataster, "a central tax list covering all the cultivatable land". [2]

[1]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences)

[2]: (Haussig 1971, 174) Haussig, H W.trans Hussey, J M. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson.


60 Cuzco - Late Formative absent Confident Expert -
"There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish., notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms." [1]

[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236)


61 Cuzco - Early Intermediate I absent Confident Expert -
"There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish, notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms." [1]

[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236)


62 Cuzco - Early Intermediate II absent Confident Expert -
"There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish, notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms." [1]

[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236)


63 Wari Empire absent Confident Expert -
"There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish, notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms." [1]

[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236)


64 Cuzco - Late Intermediate I absent Confident Expert -
Writing was not developed until the arrival of the Spanish. "There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish, notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms." [1]

[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236)


65 Cuzco - Late Intermediate II absent Confident Expert -
"There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish, notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms." [1]

[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236)


66 Inca Empire absent Confident Expert -
-
67 Spanish Empire I present Confident Expert -
Classifications: “In May 1576 Philip issued a detailed list of forty-nine questions which were to be answered by all officials in America. The questionnaire covered every conceivable topic from botany and geography to economy and religion. The answers, the famous ‘geographic relations’, began to come in from 1577 and trickled through for ten years more.” [1]

[1]: (Kamen 2002, 353) Kamen, Henry. 2002. Spain’s Road to Empire: The Making of a World Power, 1492-1763. London: Penguin Books. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5IIFB6KQ


68 Deccan - Neolithic absent Inferred Expert -
-
69 Deccan - Iron Age unknown Suspected Expert -
-
70 Magadha - Maurya Empire present Inferred Expert -
The primary evidence of the writing in use during the period are the inscriptions of Asoka. The two major writing systems seem to have been Brahmi and Kharosthi, but as these are stone pillars coding the presence of other types of writing is problematic. The survival of the Arthashartra, a political manual of statecraft for a king would seem to indicate a larger literary tradition. [1]

[1]: Singh, Upinder, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. (New Delhi, 2008), p. 320


71 Post-Mauryan Kingdoms present Inferred Expert -
Post-Mauryans in Krishna valley: "Amaravati inscription of this period records the existence of a royal scribe (rajalekhaka). This may indicate that record-keeping started to play an integral part in local political administration as well as in commercial activities in this period." [1]

[1]: (Shimada 2012, 118) Shimada, Akira. 2012. Early Buddhist Architecture in Context: The Great Stupa at Amaravati (ca. 300 BCE-300 CE). BRILL.


72 Chalukyas of Badami unknown Suspected Expert -
likely used by government officials
73 Rashtrakuta Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
e.g. used by government
74 Chalukyas of Kalyani unknown Suspected Expert -
e.g. by court/government
75 Hoysala Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
-
76 Kampili Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
-
77 Vijayanagara Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
-
78 Mughal Empire present Confident Expert -
Measurements and data collection used in land revenue system. [1]

[1]: Catherine B. Asher and Cynthia Talbot, India before Europe (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), p.128.


79 British Empire II present Confident Expert -
-
80 Haudenosaunee Confederacy - Early absent Confident Expert -
-
81 Haudenosaunee Confederacy - Late absent Confident Expert -
We are unsure about the use of written lists on reservations.
82 Canaan present Inferred Expert -
"There is a sharp increase in written finds from Canaan dating to the Late Bronze Age. In fact, more than 50 percent of the Akkadian tablets that have been found in the southern Levant date to this period. Within this corpus, one can add the Amarna archive, which includes many [diplomatic] letters from Canaan. Excavations at Syrian sites including Emar, Alalakh, and Ugarit have revealed several rich archives, and it is tempting to assume that large Canaanite urban centers to the south of these sites had similar bureaucratic system that included administrative archives. Nevertheless, written finds from Late Bronze Age Canaan are scarce, and it seems that documents were limited to administrative needs. This differs from the situation in Syria, where writing was also used for literary purposes (Schniedewind 2004, 40-41)." [1]

[1]: Shai/Uziel (2010:74)


83 Phoenician Empire present Confident Expert -
"…as the classical sources reveal, a wide range of Phoenician works—on subjects ranging from history and law to religion and philosophy—did once exist. The references, by and large, are Roman in date and refer primarily to Carthage and its later literary tradition. The Phoenician cities in the east, however, also possessed extensive archives of an historical and economic nature that were housed and maintained by the palaces and temples. In the Report of Wenamun, King Zakarbaal of Byblos consults such ancestral records, written on papyrus scrolls…" [1] I have seen claims that the Greek term biblion for book was derived from the city name Byblos, because of the vast quantities of Egyptian papyrus imported there.

[1]: Markoe (2000:110).


84 Yisrael present Confident Expert -
Best example known is the Gezer Calendar. [1]

[1]: E.g. King/Steger (2001:88)


85 Neo-Assyrian Empire present Confident Expert -
-
86 Achaemenid Empire present Confident Expert -
land registers [1]

[1]: Wiesehöfer, Josef. 2009. page 81 "The Achaemenid Empire." Pp. 66-98 in The Dynamics of Ancient Empires: State Power from Assyria to Byzantium, edited by I. Morris and W. Scheidel. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


87 Seleucids present Confident Expert -
For example, the Mnesimachos inscription, where Mnesimachis listed the land grants he’d received from Antigonos and the annual tribute from each grant of land. [1]

[1]: Aperghis, G. G. 2004. The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of the Seleukid Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p137


88 Ptolemaic Kingdom I present Confident Expert -
-
89 Yehuda present Inferred Expert -
Presuming that as in previous ages, administrative records were written.
90 Early A'chik absent Confident Expert -
-
91 Late A'chik unknown Suspected Expert -
Prior to the colonial period, the Achik were illiterate. Were any of the Laskars literate and did they use lists and tables? ’Some of the Garos are of the opinion that they had their own alphabetic system of writing their language in some hoary past but this is not proved till now; it is really doubtful if the Garos had their own alphabet ever. ... the Garos of the interior hills were mostly illiterate who are even now mostly illiterate. After the district came under the administration of the British the foreign missionaries introduced Roman characters of writing and this facilitated them to translate the holy Bible into Garo and preach Christianity there. The Garos now write in Roman characters but even then all the letters of the English alphabet are not necessary to write the language’. [1]

[1]: Choudhury, Bhupendranath 1958. “Some Cultural And Linguistic Aspects Of The Garos”, 50


92 Akan - Pre-Ashanti absent Inferred Expert -
The following refers to the Ashanti and colonial periods: ’In order to meet the clerical service required for these forms, there is attached to the important Tribunals a Registrar’s office where summonses and all other processes are taken. The Registerar has charge of the cause list and the Records Books.’ [1] We have assumed here that clerical work was introduced during the Ashanti period and performed by foreigners. European traders certainly used lists for commercial purposes, but so far no information on equivalent Akan practices has been found.

[1]: Danquah, J.B. 1928: 97; Literacy Database


93 Ashanti Empire present Confident Expert -
’In order to meet the clerical service required for these forms, there is attached to the important Tribunals a Registrar’s office where summonses and all other processes are taken. The Registerar has charge of the cause list and the Records Books.’ [1]

[1]: Danquah, J.B. 1928: 97; Literacy Database


94 Icelandic Commonwealth absent Confident Expert 930 CE 1000 CE
The Book of Settlements seems to fit this category: ’As Hastrup points out (1985:189) the principal of allodial or adal land, family ownership of land, was not transplanted to Iceland, for one reason, because there was no history of prior occupation on which to base such claims. She agrees with those who argue that the reason for the writing of Landnámabók, the Book of Settlements, which lists many settlers, their land claims, genealogies, and events of the Settlement Period, in the twelfth century was to provide evidence for claims to hereditary rights in land (p. 192). This work was written some time after the first recording of law began in 1117. The collection of laws is known as Grágás. According to this code, [Page 246] written nearly two-hundred years after the establishment of the Alþing and the adoption of an oral code of laws, land ownership was individual (Hastrup 1985:189). Hastrup argues that there was a contradiction between the legal code of individual ownership and informal concepts of family ownership which developed during the period after the settlement.’ [1] ’1000 is probably correct if we include imported books and documents.’ [2]

[1]: Durrenberger, E. Paul 1988. “Stratification Without A State: The Collapse Of The Icelandic Commonwealth", 245

[2]: Árni Daniel Júlíusson and Axel Kristissen 2017, pers. comm. to E. Brandl and D. Mullins


95 Icelandic Commonwealth present Confident Expert 1001 CE 1262 CE
The Book of Settlements seems to fit this category: ’As Hastrup points out (1985:189) the principal of allodial or adal land, family ownership of land, was not transplanted to Iceland, for one reason, because there was no history of prior occupation on which to base such claims. She agrees with those who argue that the reason for the writing of Landnámabók, the Book of Settlements, which lists many settlers, their land claims, genealogies, and events of the Settlement Period, in the twelfth century was to provide evidence for claims to hereditary rights in land (p. 192). This work was written some time after the first recording of law began in 1117. The collection of laws is known as Grágás. According to this code, [Page 246] written nearly two-hundred years after the establishment of the Alþing and the adoption of an oral code of laws, land ownership was individual (Hastrup 1985:189). Hastrup argues that there was a contradiction between the legal code of individual ownership and informal concepts of family ownership which developed during the period after the settlement.’ [1] ’1000 is probably correct if we include imported books and documents.’ [2]

[1]: Durrenberger, E. Paul 1988. “Stratification Without A State: The Collapse Of The Icelandic Commonwealth", 245

[2]: Árni Daniel Júlíusson and Axel Kristissen 2017, pers. comm. to E. Brandl and D. Mullins


96 Kingdom of Norway II present Confident Expert -
Secular and clerical authorities collected taxes from commoners: ’With like energy he preached the crusade to the Holy Land which had been urged at the Council of Bergen. People were prevailed upon to pay an extra tax of one öln vadmál year for the period of six years to defray the expenses of the undertaking. Bishop Jörund of Hólar was also encouraged by Arni’s example to collect all sorts of dues for the church, and to enforce the provision of the church laws.’ [1] ’This was made especially manifest by the new procedure introduced at this time of summoning people to Norway for trial. [...] The king’s officers also travelled about collecting the royal revenues with greater severity that had hitherto been customary. They reproved the people for appealing to the bishop, and in some cases forbade them to pay as large church dues as the bishop had demanded.’ [2] This suggests the presence of registers.

[1]: Gjerset, Knut [1924]. "History of Iceland", 219

[2]: Gjerset, Knut [1924]. "History of Iceland", 220


97 Kachi Plain - Aceramic Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
Possehl states that there was no writing before the urban phase in the Indus valley. [1]

[1]: Gregory L. Possehl. The Indus Civilization. A Contemporary Perspective. Walnut Creek, Altamira, 2002, p. 51.


98 Kachi Plain - Ceramic Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
Possehl states that there was no writing before the urban phase in the Indus valley. [1]

[1]: Gregory L. Possehl. The Indus Civilization. A Contemporary Perspective. Walnut Creek, Altamira, 2002, p. 51.


99 Kachi Plain - Chalcolithic absent Confident Expert -
Possehl states that there was no writing before the urban phase in the Indus valley. [1] While seals have been found in Mehrgarh III layers, these show no evidence of script or writing. [2]

[1]: Gregory L. Possehl. The Indus Civilization. A Contemporary Perspective. Walnut Creek, Altamira, 2002, p. 51.

[2]: , C. A. (in press) Chapter 11, Case Study: Mehrgarh. In, Barker, G and Goucher, C (eds.) Cambridge World History, Volume 2: A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE - 500 CE. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.


100 Kachi Plain - Pre-Urban Period absent Confident Expert -
Possehl states that there was no writing before the urban phase in the Indus valley. [1]

[1]: Gregory L. Possehl. The Indus Civilization. A Contemporary Perspective. Walnut Creek, Altamira, 2002, p. 51.


101 Kachi Plain - Urban Period I present Inferred Expert -
Due to likely existence of bureaucracy.
102 Kachi Plain - Urban Period II present Inferred Expert -
Due to likely existence of bureaucracy.
103 Kachi Plain - Post-Urban Period absent Confident Expert -
"The Indus civilization flourished for around five hundred to seven hundred years, and in the early second millennium it disintegrated. This collapse was marked by the disappearance of the features that had distinguished the Indus civilization from its predecessors: writing, city dwelling, some kind of central control, international trade, occupational specialization, and widely distributed standardized artifacts. [...] Writing was no longer used, though occasionally signs were scratched as graffiti on pottery." [1]

[1]: (McIntosh 2008, 91-92) Jane McIntosh. 2008. The Ancient Indus Civilization. Oxford; Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio.


104 Kachi Plain - Proto-Historic Period absent Confident Expert -
-
105 Parthian Empire I present Confident Expert -
"For an insight into the forms of Parthian taxation we can now look to the ostraca found in the citadel at the royal capital of Nisa. Almost 2,500 ostraca have been found since 1948 in the former wine-storage rooms at Nisa. All the documents date from the mid-second (no. 257 is of the year 97 = 151/150 B.C.) to the late first century B.C. and record payments of rent or taxes in kind, in this case wine." [1]

[1]: (Raschke 1976, 824-825) Raschke, Manfred G. in Haase, Wolfgang ed. 1976. Politische Geschichte (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Walter de Gruyter.


106 Kushan Empire present Confident Expert -
General reference for Kinds of Written Documents [1]

[1]: B. N. Mukherjee, ’The Rise and Fall of the Kushana Empire’ (Calcutta, 1988), pp.409-10


107 Sasanid Empire I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
108 Hephthalites absent Confident Expert 408 CE 487 CE
[1] As little is known about the Hepthalitess written records, the coding below reflects areas they conquered from the Sasasian empire and the territories taken in India.

[1]: Litvinsky B.A.,Guang-da Zhang , and Shabani Samghabadi R. (eds)History of Civilizations of Central Asia p. 143


109 Hephthalites present Confident Expert 488 CE 561 CE
[1] As little is known about the Hepthalitess written records, the coding below reflects areas they conquered from the Sasasian empire and the territories taken in India.

[1]: Litvinsky B.A.,Guang-da Zhang , and Shabani Samghabadi R. (eds)History of Civilizations of Central Asia p. 143


110 Sasanid Empire II present Inferred Expert -
-
111 Umayyad Caliphate present Confident Expert -
The Ilm al-Miqat astrological literature led to the creation of vast tables, ranging from simple tables to measure solar or stellar altitudes effect on prayer time. [1]

[1]: (Young, Latham and Serjeant, eds. ????, 285)


112 Abbasid Caliphate I present Confident Expert -
The Ilm al-Miqat astrological literature led to the creation of vast tables, ranging from simple tables compiled in Baghdad in the ninth century CE to measure solar or stellar altitudes effect on prayer time to more sophisticated tables dictating what tens of thousands of entries for finding the time of day or night by the sun or any star on multiple latitudes. [1]

[1]: Young, M. J. L., John Derek Latham, and Robert Bertram Serjeant, eds. Religion, learning and science in the’abbasid period pp. 285


113 Sind - Abbasid-Fatimid Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
114 Ghur Principality present Confident Expert -
-
115 Delhi Sultanate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
116 Sind - Samma Dynasty unknown Suspected Expert -
-
117 Durrani Empire present Confident Expert -
These included tribute tabulations and tax receipts from India.
118 Japan - Incipient Jomon absent Confident Expert -
“To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” [1]

[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)


119 Japan - Initial Jomon absent Confident Expert -
“To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” [1]

[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)


120 Japan - Early Jomon absent Confident Expert -
“To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” [1]

[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)


121 Japan - Middle Jomon absent Confident Expert -
“To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” [1]

[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)


122 Japan - Late Jomon absent Inferred Expert -
“To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” [1]

[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)


123 Japan - Final Jomon absent Confident Expert -
“To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” [1]

[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)


124 Kansai - Yayoi Period absent Confident Expert -
"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche." [1]

[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)


125 Kansai - Kofun Period present Confident Expert 450 CE 537 CE
"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche." [1] e.g. used by government. earliest use of script would likely have involved simple lists.

[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)


126 Kansai - Kofun Period absent Confident Uncertain Expert 399 CE 449 CE
"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche." [1] e.g. used by government. earliest use of script would likely have involved simple lists.

[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)


127 Kansai - Kofun Period absent Inferred Expert 250 CE 399 CE
"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche." [1] e.g. used by government. earliest use of script would likely have involved simple lists.

[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)


128 Kansai - Kofun Period present Confident Uncertain Expert 399 CE 449 CE
"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche." [1] e.g. used by government. earliest use of script would likely have involved simple lists.

[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)


129 Asuka unknown Suspected Expert -
e.g. used by government
130 Heian present Confident Expert -
’The extant catalogue lists almost 1,400 scrolls of Chinese dynastic histories and almost 2,000 scrolls of books on rites and ceremonies. More emphasis is given to belles lettres than to the classics - reflecting a T’ang taste that was especially congenial to the Japanese - and a number of books by Chinese authors appear in it that are not listed in continental bibliographies, several of which have been discovered at Tun-huang. And probably there were other books not deemed worthy of being entered into an official bibliography: handbooks, practical books of various sorts, and volumes to amuse and instruct the less educated, women, and children.’ [1]

[1]: Shively, Donald H. and McCullough, William H. 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge Histories Online Cambridge University Press.p.345-346


131 Kamakura Shogunate present Confident Expert -
-
132 Ashikaga Shogunate present Confident Expert -
-
133 Warring States Japan present Confident Expert -
"Hōjō had been perfecting a standardized index for surveying both private and daimyō land." [1]

[1]: (Turnbull 2008)


134 Japan - Azuchi-Momoyama present Confident Expert -
’he [Toyotomi Hideyoshi] ordered censuses taken in all villages to prevent military men from taking refuge in them’ [1] ‘Unusually precise records describing how wounds were inflicted in battle from 1333 through 1600 enable us to trace the dissemination of weapons. One can precisely chart how weapons were used from 1333 onward because battle reports (kassen chūmon) and “petitions for reward” (gunchūjō) record how wounds were inflicted.’ [2]

[1]: Totman, Conrad. 1993. Early Modern Japan. University of California Press. Berkeley; London.p.45.

[2]: Ferejohn, John, and Frances Rosenbluth, (eds.) 2010.War and State Building in Medieval Japan. Stanford University Press.p.126


135 Tokugawa Shogunate present Confident Expert -
[1] The high literacy rate in the Tokugawa period (calculated at around 40% of the population) aided the proliferation of written works. [2]

[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.243.

[2]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.229.


136 Iban - Pre-Brooke absent Confident Expert -
-
137 Iban - Brooke Raj and Colonial absent Confident Expert -
-
138 Konya Plain - Early Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
-
139 Konya Plain - Ceramic Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
-
140 Konya Plain - Late Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
-
141 Konya Plain - Early Chalcolithic absent Inferred Expert -
-
142 Konya Plain - Late Chalcolithic absent Inferred Expert -
-
143 Konya Plain - Early Bronze Age absent Confident Expert -
-
144 Middle Bronze Age in Central Anatolia present Inferred Expert -
likely what bureaucrats would do with writing
145 Hatti - Old Kingdom present Confident Expert -
Hittite king’s list sacrificial. [1]

[1]: Beckam G. (2000) Hittite Chronology, “Akkadica” 119-120, pp. 19-32


146 Konya Plain - Late Bronze Age II present Confident Expert -
Hittite king’s list sacrificial. [1]

[1]: Beckam G. (2000) Hittite Chronology, “Akkadica” 119-120, pp. 19-32


147 Hatti - New Kingdom present Confident Expert -
Hittite king’s list sacrificial. [1]

[1]: Beckam G. (2000) Hittite Chronology, Akkadica 119-120, pp. 19-32


148 Phrygian Kingdom present Inferred Expert -
literacy + government
149 Tabal Kingdoms present Inferred Expert -
Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: "The focus of each state was an administrative centre where the royal seat was located." [1]

[1]: (Bryce 2012, 80)


150 Kingdom of Lydia present Inferred Expert -
inferred continuity with earlier periods in the region
151 Lysimachus Kingdom present Inferred Expert -
government + literacy
152 Late Cappadocia present Inferred Expert -
By government, traders etc.
153 Rum Sultanate present Inferred Expert -
-
154 Ilkhanate present Confident Expert -
Tables of cities with their latitudes and longitudes used in astronomy. [1]

[1]: E.S. Kennedy, ‘The Exact Sceinces in Iran under the Saljuqs and Mongols’, in J.A. Boyle (ed.), The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol 5, The Saljuq and Mongol Period (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968), p.673.


155 Ottoman Emirate present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.


156 Ottoman Empire I present Confident Expert -
Molla Lutfi (Bayezid II period) classification of sciences and geometry. [1] "Legal and financial records." [2]

[1]: (http://www.theottomans.org/english/art_culture/science.asp)

[2]: (Imber 2002, 149) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.


157 Ottoman Empire II present Confident Expert -
Molla Lutfi (Bayezid II period) classification of sciences and geometry. [1] "Legal and financial records." [2]

[1]: (http://www.theottomans.org/english/art_culture/science.asp)

[2]: (Imber 2002, 149) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.


158 Ottoman Empire III present Confident Expert -
"Legal and financial records." [1]

[1]: (Imber 2002, 149) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.


159 Latium - Copper Age absent Confident Expert -
Few, if any, people in Latium could read such things had they existed and they likely did not exist because there was no state bureaucracy or developed religion that would provide a reason to produce them.
160 Latium - Bronze Age absent Confident Expert -
Few, if any, people in Latium could read such things had they existed and they likely did not exist because there was no state bureaucracy or developed religion that would provide a reason to produce them.
161 Latium - Iron Age absent Inferred Expert -
Servius Tullius (578-534 BCE) carried out the first Roman census. [1]

[1]: (Cornell 1995, 173, 179)


162 Roman Kingdom present Confident Expert -
Servius Tullius (578-534 BCE) carried out the first Roman census. [1]

[1]: (Cornell 1995, 173, 179)


163 Early Roman Republic present Confident Expert -
Twelve Tables laws 450 BCE.
164 Middle Roman Republic present Confident Expert -
Twelve Tables laws of 450 BCE.
165 Late Roman Republic present Confident Expert -
-
166 Western Roman Empire - Late Antiquity present Confident Expert -
-
167 Ostrogothic Kingdom present Confident Expert -
-
168 Exarchate of Ravenna present Confident Expert -
-
169 Republic of St Peter I present Confident Expert -
-
170 Rome - Republic of St Peter II present Confident Expert -
Compiled starting in 1192 by Cencius. Cardinal Cencius, later elected pope as Honorius III, compiled the Liber Censuum, a tabulation of the lands and fiscal rights of the papacy, beginning in 1192. [1] (2)

[1]: Partner, 224-25


171 Papal States - High Medieval Period present Confident Expert -
-
172 Papal States - Renaissance Period present Confident Expert -
Catasti (population lists) were compiled in the Papal State for taxation purposes from the early 16th century.
173 Papal States - Early Modern Period I present Confident Expert -
-
174 Papal States - Early Modern Period II present Confident Expert -
Clerical officials regularly drew up dispatches, tax lists, and so forth.
175 Sakha - Early absent Confident Expert -
Mnemonic devices may have played a role prior to Russian role, but the information is unclear (see above).
176 Sakha - Late absent Confident Expert -
Russian administrators composed clerical documents: ’The people became rapidly impoverished, and the order of the voivode to the clerk Evdokim Kurdiukov in 1685 already mentions the arrears in the treasury and orders the yassak gatherers to treat the people in arrears in the following way: from them who have no cattle take, because of their povetry and extreme need one cherno-cherevyya and one sivodushatyya fox from each, and for a sable, two red foxes from each. This same document orders him to make a census of the people, and their goods and cattle: collect the taxes for the current year, 193 (1685) in full, and collect the arrears for the past years, from each as much as possible. Similar censuses were taken earlier also, and their character may be judged by the census of Grishka Krivogornitsyn in 170 (1671) “for the Meginsk volosts” There we find mentioned not only the taxes and the amounts in arrears, but also the houses, wives, number of workers in the family. There is information about those who have died and those who have run away. Moreover the name and clan of every person is given. The personal and clan nicknames, of course are very much corrupted in these notes, and changed to conform with the Russian style, but it is not hard to determine what they actually are. The yassak books and these censuses were the materials out of which was later created the present system of Yakut self-government.’ [1] But the Sakha probably had little to no access to these.

[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 780


177 Shuar - Colonial absent Confident Expert -
-
178 Shuar - Ecuadorian absent Confident Expert -
-
179 Egypt - New Kingdom Thutmosid Period present Confident Expert -
-
180 Egypt - New Kingdom Ramesside Period present Confident Expert -
-
181 Egypt - Thebes-Libyan Period present Inferred Expert -
archival buildings?
182 Egypt - Saite Period present Confident Expert -
Tax administration. [1]

[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1006)


183 Egypt - Inter-Occupation Period present Confident Expert -
"Demotic ostraca discovered in a temple attest to the villages’ existence from the late 26th to early 30th dynasties. The texts - still unpublished - often record transactions with water. Farmers bought the right to have water flow into their fields for a number of days and promised part of their yields in return. The contracts are dated in the traditional Egyptian way according to the regnal years of kings. They include both Persians and those who ruled when Egypt was independent from the empire. The changes in government did not affect how the records were kept." [1]

[1]: (Van de Mieroop 2011, 307)


184 Ptolemaic Kingdom II present Confident Expert -
-
185 Axum I present Inferred Expert -
"Aksumite rulers who often spoke and read in Greek, put great store in written documents and in libraries to keep them". [1] "The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, around 50 CE, "describes the ruler of the region, King Zoscales, as ’well versed in Hellenic sciences’. This would naturally require fluency in Greek, the lingua-franca of the ancient economy." [2] No data on written documents but it is likely that they existed, especially in Greek along the parts of the coast engaged in trade with the Greek-speaking world, if not also further inland at the capital Aksum in Ge’ez - or its precursor language - with documents relating to the local religion and the state.

[1]: (Murray 2009) Stuart A P Murray. 2009. The Library: An Illustrated History. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

[2]: (Glazier and Peacock 2016) Darren Glazier. David Peacock. Historical background and previous investigations. David Peacock. Lucy Blue. eds. 2016. The Ancient Red Sea Port of Adulis, Eritrea: Results of the Eritro-British Expedition, 2004-5. Oxbow Books. Oxford.


186 Middle Wagadu Empire absent Confident Expert -
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]

[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.

[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.


187 Fatimid Caliphate present Confident Expert -
-
188 Later Wagadu Empire present Inferred Expert -
Muslim officials working for the king would likely have drawn up lists.
189 Mali Empire present Inferred Expert -
They had writing and so it was likely used to assist organization.
190 Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate I present Confident Expert -
Encyclopaedias and manuals: al-Umar (1301-1349 CE); al-Nuwaya (1279-1332 CE). [1] . Land registry 1316 CE. [2]

[1]: (Oliver 1977, 66)

[2]: (Raymond 2000, 120)


191 Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate II present Confident Expert -
Land registry of 1376 CE. [1]

[1]: (Raymond 2000, 142)


192 Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate III present Confident Expert -
Encyclopaedias and manuals: Al-Qalqasband (1355-1418 CE). [1] Land registry [2]

[1]: (Oliver 1977, 66)

[2]: (Raymond 2000, 168)


193 Songhai Empire - Askiya Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
Used by government. Widespread use of "notarized documents" e.g. inventory of goods beloning to prison inmate. [1]

[1]: (Diop 1987, 127) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago.


194 Late Shang present Inferred Expert -
The Shang had tablets [1] to write on so their bureaucracy would very likely compiled lists, such as for resources to acquire. They also wrote on perishable materials, such as bamboo and silk. [1]

[1]: (The Shang Dynasty, 1600 to 1050 BCE. Spice Digest, Fall 2007. http://iis-db.stanford.edu/docs/117/ShangDynasty.pdf)


195 Western Zhou present Inferred Expert -
Government administration would have produced lists.
196 Jin present Inferred Expert -
"During the Spring and Autumn Period, the powerful states such as Qin and Chu set up a new administrative system of provinces and counties ... These governors in the provinces and counties comprised the first bureaucracy in Chinese history." [1]

[1]: (Zhang 2015, 144) Zhang, Qizhi. 2015. An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture. Springer.


197 Western Han Empire present Confident Expert -
E.g. Sima Qian’s "Shiji" genealogical tables and ruler lists.
198 Eastern Han Empire present Inferred Expert -
Administrative documents. [1]

[1]: (Knechtges 2010, 118) Knechtges, David R. in Chang, Kang-i Sun. Ownen, Stephen. 2010. The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, Volume 1. Cambridge University Press.


199 Western Jin present Inferred Expert -
"The administrative structure inherited Qin and Han reach down to the local level, the county (xian) ... it relied heavily on written records and documents" [1]

[1]: (Graff 2002, 20-21)


200 Northern Wei present Confident Expert -
e.g. Census.
201 Sui Dynasty present Confident Expert -
e.g. within the bureaucracy.
202 Tang Dynasty I present Inferred Expert -
e.g. Bureaucratic use.
203 Nara Kingdom present Confident Expert -
’household registers’ [1]

[1]: Brown, Delmer M. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 1: Ancient Japan. Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press.p.232


204 Tang Dynasty II present Inferred Expert -
e.g. Used by bureaucracy.
205 Jin Dynasty present Confident Expert -
-
206 Mongol Empire present Confident Expert -
e.g. star tables produced at the astronomy in Maragha. [1]

[1]: Beatrice Forbes Manz, ‘The Rule of the Infidels: The Mongols and the Islamic World’, in David O. Morgan and Anthony Reid (eds), The New Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 3. The Eastern Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 155.


207 Great Yuan present Confident Expert -
-
208 Great Ming present Confident Expert -
e.g. Yellow Register Archives in Nanjing.
209 Xiongnu Imperial Confederation unknown Suspected Expert -
-
210 Late Xiongnu unknown Suspected Expert -
-
211 Rouran Khaganate absent Inferred Expert 300 CE 499 CE
c500 CE and after: "It may be assumed that by then some of the Juan-juan already lived a settled life and practised agriculture. The original sources repeatedly mention that their khagans obtained ‘seed millet’ from China (some 10,000 shi each time). This shows that the Juan-juan society and state had gradually developed from nomadic herding to a settled agricultural way of life, from yurts to the building of houses and monumental architecture, from the nomadic district to towns. They had invented their own system of writing and developed their own local culture and Buddhist learning flourished." [1]

[1]: (Kyzlasov 1996, 317)


212 Rouran Khaganate present Inferred Expert 500 CE 555 CE
c500 CE and after: "It may be assumed that by then some of the Juan-juan already lived a settled life and practised agriculture. The original sources repeatedly mention that their khagans obtained ‘seed millet’ from China (some 10,000 shi each time). This shows that the Juan-juan society and state had gradually developed from nomadic herding to a settled agricultural way of life, from yurts to the building of houses and monumental architecture, from the nomadic district to towns. They had invented their own system of writing and developed their own local culture and Buddhist learning flourished." [1]

[1]: (Kyzlasov 1996, 317)


213 Kidarite Kingdom present Inferred Expert -
"the former nomadic invaders came into possession of vast territories inhabited by settled agricultural peoples with a culture and traditions dating back many centuries, just as had been the case with the Tokharians ... who created the Kushan Empire. It seems likely that the administrative and government structure created by the Kushans was left largely intact under the Kidarites." [1]

[1]: (Zeimal 1996, 132) Zeimal, E. V. The Kidarite Kingdom In Central Asia. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.123-137. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf


214 Western Turk Khaganate present Inferred Expert -
e.g. used by government
215 Eastern Turk Khaganate present Inferred Expert -
c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [1]

[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.


216 Uigur Khaganate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
217 Samanid Empire present Confident Expert -
Encyclopedias. Registers. Glossaries of terms. [1]

[1]: (Starr 2013) Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. Princeton.


218 Khitan I present Inferred Expert -
Within bureaucracy.
219 Kara-Khanids present Confident Expert -
Advanced, literate, scientific culture.
220 Khwarezmid Empire present Confident -
Fakhr al-Din Razi was the author of an encyclopaedia on the Qur’an, Tafsir. [1]

[1]: Boyle 1968: 287. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CFW8EE6Q


221 Chagatai Khanate present Confident Expert -
"Ulughbeg, a grandson of Timur, briefly ruled Central Asia and was an educator and astronomer. His tables of the movements of stars were long unsurpassed for accuracy". [1]

[1]: (Starr 2013) Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. Princeton.


222 Tudor and Early Stuart England present Confident -
Division lists were kept by parliament as to how people voted. [1]

[1]: (Bucholz et al 2013: 334) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U


223 Early Merovingian present Inferred Expert -
-
224 Lombard Kingdom unknown Suspected -
Lists, tables, and classifications have not been mentioned in the sources consulted.
225 Middle Merovingian unknown Suspected Expert -
-
226 Carolingian Empire I present Inferred Expert -
-
227 Carolingian Empire II unknown Suspected Expert -
-
228 French Kingdom - Early Valois present Confident Expert -
Weight standard of Troyes - became an international standard [1]

[1]: (Spufford 2006, 146)


229 Kassite Babylonia present Confident Expert -
Administration tablets remarkable for their tabulated form [1]

[1]: Liverani, M. 2014. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. London: Routledge. p.368


230 Neo-Babylonian Empire present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Huehnergard, J. and Woods, C. 2008. Akkadian and Eblaite in Woodard, R.D. (ed.) The Ancient Languages of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Aksum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.84


231 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom present Inferred Expert -
"The ’archival library’ in the palace of Ai Khanoum" [1] would have contained all sorts of literature. The Greek cultural world endured beyond the collapse of the successor states. Lexicography, astrological diaries, market prices and records also existed within the wider Greek world. Evidence from inscriptions indicate interaction with the wider literary traditions. This was especially true in regards to the Seleucids and later Arsacid literary traditions. [2] Even the chronology of the period is in question by some scholars. [3]

[1]: (Staikos 2004) Staikos, K. 2004. The History of the Library in Western Civilization: From Minos to Cleopatra. Hes & de Graaf Publishers.

[2]: Sherwin-White, Susan M. From Samarkhand to Sardis: a new approach to the Seleucid empire. Vol. 13. University of California Pr, 1993.

[3]: Seldeslachts, Erik. "The end of the road for the Indo-Greeks?." Iranica antiqua 39, no. 0 (2005): 249-296.


232 Himyar I present Confident Expert -
"In the second half of the 1st millennium B.C., beside the monumental script of the inscriptions, another, ’cursive’ (or ’miniscule,’ abbreviated below as minusc.), script of everyday documents such as private letters, contracts, and magic texts developed. Discovered in 1973, this script was difficult to decipher. Only thirty minuscule documents have been published, out of an estimated number of several thousand. Almost all published miniscule texts are Sab. and date from the 2nd-3rd centuries C.C., most of them coming from the city of Nashshan in the Wadi Madhab." [1] [1]

[1]: (Kaye 2007, 168) L E Kogan. A V Korotayev. Epigraphic South Arabian Morphology. Alan S Kaye ed. 2007. Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Volume 1. Eisenbrauns. Winona Lake.


233 Himyar II present Confident Expert -
"In the second half of the 1st millennium B.C., beside the monumental script of the inscriptions, another, ’cursive’ (or ’miniscule,’ abbreviated below as minusc.), script of everyday documents such as private letters, contracts, and magic texts developed. Discovered in 1973, this script was difficult to decipher. Only thirty minuscule documents have been published, out of an estimated number of several thousand. Almost all published miniscule texts are Sab. and date from the 2nd-3rd centuries C.C., most of them coming from the city of Nashshan in the Wadi Madhab." [1] [1]

[1]: (Kaye 2007, 168) L E Kogan. A V Korotayev. Epigraphic South Arabian Morphology. Alan S Kaye ed. 2007. Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Volume 1. Eisenbrauns. Winona Lake.


234 Egypt - Tulunid-Ikhshidid Period present Confident Expert -
-
235 Buyid Confederation unknown Suspected Expert -
-
236 Seljuk Sultanate present Confident Expert -
e.g. the Loḡat-e Fors , the first monolingual dictionary of Persian; manuals detailing the techniques of composing verse. [1] "Secretarial manuals describe the compilation of census and property registers that decided land rights and set just taxation levels." [2]

[1]: Daniela Meneghini ’SALJUQS v. SALJUQID LITERATURE’ http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/saljuqs-v

[2]: (Darling 2013, 95) Darling, Linda T. 2013. A History of Social Justice and Political Power in the Middle East: The Circle of Justice from Mesopotamia to Globalization. Routledge.


237 Yemen - Era of Warlords present Inferred Expert -
Used by government administrators.
238 Ayyubid Sultanate present Confident Expert -
Ali al-Qifti (1172-1248 CE), biographical dictionary of Greek and Arab physicians and scientists. [1]

[1]: (Oliver 1977, 38)


239 Rasulid Dynasty present Confident Expert -
Biographical dictionaries. [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 114) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


240 Timurid Empire present Confident Expert -
e.g. astronomical: Ulughbeg’s "compendium of data, called the Zij or collection of astronomical tables, was clearly a collaborative work involving especially Kashi. In nearly three hundred pages of charts and quantitative data, it fixed with precise figures the locations of 992 stars. The star catalog included in the Zij was more comprehensive than any previous catalog, and far more precise." [1]

[1]: (Starr 2013) Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. Princeton.


241 Yemen - Tahirid Dynasty present Confident Expert -
Anatomy studied, so must have needed these. Account from 1472 AD ‘Then after the Qur’an I studied the Quranic readings, individually and collectively, under my maternal uncle ... Then I studied Arabic under my maternal uncle and others. I studied also in particular under him arithmetic, algebra, anatomy, surveying, God’s ordinances and fiqb with the result that I derived benefit from all these disciplines’ [1]

[1]: G. REX SMITH, ‘THE TAHIRID SULTANS OF THE YEMEN (858-923/1454-1517) AND THEIR HISTORIAN IBN AL-DAYBA’, ‘’Journal of Semitic Studies’’, Volume XXIX, Issue 1, 1 March 1984, p. 151


242 Safavid Empire present Confident Expert -
administrative and tax documents. [1]

[1]: (Lambton 2011) Lambton, Ann K S. 2011. CITIES iii. Administration and Social Organization. Encyclopedia Iranica. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cities-iii


243 Mahajanapada era unknown Suspected Expert -
-
244 Magadha - Sunga Empire present Inferred Expert -
Inferred for pe
245 Kingdom of Ayodhya present Inferred Expert -
Inferred in previous polities.
246 Yangshao absent Confident Expert -
Writing may have been invented in the Longshan [1] , no evidence for earlier writing in earlier times.

[1]: (Chang 1999, 64)


247 Erlitou present Inferred Expert -
"The building of monumental architecture and the production of elite objects would have been inconceivable without some sort of systematic management of the city’s resources. ... A similar response to administrative needs at Erlitou is certainly a possibility." [1] "normally it is only after writing comes to be used for display that archaeology begins to find traces of it. Because administrative documents were almost certainly written on perishable materials like bamboo and papyrus, we will probably never find them." [2] An incipient administrative system may have used a basic list such as for the procurement of needed resources.

[1]: (Wang 2014, 178) Wang, Haicheng. 2014. Writing and the Ancient State: Early China in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge University Press.

[2]: (Wang 2014, 179) Wang, Haicheng. 2014. Writing and the Ancient State: Early China in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge University Press.


248 Erligang present Inferred Expert -
"normally it is only after writing comes to be used for display that archaeology begins to find traces of it. Because administrative documents were almost certainly written on perishable materials like bamboo and papyrus, we will probably never find them." [1] The administrative system must have used written lists, such as for items to procure for ritual occasions or building projects.

[1]: (Wang 2014, 179) Wang, Haicheng. 2014. Writing and the Ancient State: Early China in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge University Press.


249 Early Wei Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
Clear that each Warring State kingdom kept records and produced a great deal of political, philosophical, and religious work; most literature from this period was destroyed in various wars however, and ultimately systematically destroyed by Qin and later Han Empires, though parts of the works produced in this period were adapted or transmitted to later authors.
250 Northern Song present Confident Expert -
"collection and compilation of financial data" [1]

[1]: (Golas 2015, 140)


251 Jenne-jeno I absent Confident Expert -
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]

[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.

[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.


252 Jenne-jeno II absent Confident Expert -
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]

[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.

[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.


253 Jenne-jeno III absent Confident Expert -
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]

[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.

[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.


254 Jenne-jeno IV absent Confident Expert -
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]

[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.

[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.


255 Saadi Sultanate present Inferred Expert -
State bureaucracy.
256 Segou Kingdom absent Inferred Expert -
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers.

[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.


257 Bamana kingdom present Inferred Expert -
Used by government.
258 Neguanje absent Confident Expert -
"None of the native peoples developed a system of writing comparable to that of the Mayas, and much less would the Spaniards encounter a native empire such as that of either the Aztecs or Incas. By 1500 A.D., the most advanced of the indigenous peoples were two Chibcha groups: the Taironas and the Muiscas." [1]

[1]: (Hudson 2010, 5)


259 Tairona absent Confident Expert -
None of the native peoples developed a system of writing comparable to that of the Mayas, and much less would the Spaniards encounter a native empire such as that of either the Aztecs or Incas. By 1500 A.D., the most advanced of the indigenous peoples were two Chibcha groups: the Taironas and the Muiscas." [1]

[1]: (Hudson 2010, 5)


260 Early Xiongnu unknown Suspected Expert -
-
261 Xianbei Confederation unknown Suspected Expert 230 CE 250 CE
"According to the Sanguo zhi [Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms], because Kebineng’s lands were near the Chinese border, many Chinese people (Zhongguo ren 中國人) fled the warlord depredations of late Han and Three Kingdoms China to join Kebineng, teaching the Xianbei how to make Chinese-style arms and armor, and even introducing some literacy." [1] Kebineng’s reign started in 230 CE.

[1]: (Holcombe 2013, 7-8)


262 Xianbei Confederation absent Inferred Expert 100 CE 229 CE
"According to the Sanguo zhi [Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms], because Kebineng’s lands were near the Chinese border, many Chinese people (Zhongguo ren 中國人) fled the warlord depredations of late Han and Three Kingdoms China to join Kebineng, teaching the Xianbei how to make Chinese-style arms and armor, and even introducing some literacy." [1] Kebineng’s reign started in 230 CE.

[1]: (Holcombe 2013, 7-8)


263 Second Turk Khaganate present Inferred Expert -
"According to the Chinese chroniclers, there were 28 hereditary ranks or titles in the Turk political system, suggesting a formal bureaucracy but not an entirely centralized administration." [1]

[1]: (Rogers 2012, 225)


264 Early Mongols absent Confident Expert -
-
265 Orokaiva - Pre-Colonial absent Confident Expert -
Written records were introduced by colonial authorities and missions.
266 Orokaiva - Colonial present Confident Expert -
The Constabulary relied on ad hoc devices rather than written lists when administering government plantations, but there was a literate minority using attendance books: ’The producer’s half of the income from the coffee was paid, not on delivery, but at the end of each year. The official in charge of the scheme visited each village to make the payments. The ordinance required that payment was to be made in proportion to days worked and, as the village constable who was in charge of the plantation was almost invariably illiterate, some of them kept an “attendance stick” for each man. A notch was cut in the stick for each day of absence other than that caused by illness or the death of a close relative. When the government officer visited the village to make the payments the constable produced the attendance stick of each man as he came up for payment. Some constables relied on memory to inform government officers of absentees, but the few literate ones (e. g. at Sombo) were provided with attendance books.’ [1]

[1]: Crocombe, R. G. 1964. “Communal Cash Cropping Among The Orokaiva”, 15


267 Beaker Culture unknown Suspected Expert -
-
268 Atlantic Complex unknown Suspected Expert -
No information found in sources so far.
269 Hallstatt A-B1 unknown Suspected Expert -
-
270 Hallstatt B2-3 unknown Suspected Expert -
-
271 Hallstatt C unknown Suspected Expert -
-
272 Hallstatt D unknown Suspected Expert -
-
273 La Tene A-B1 unknown Suspected Expert -
-
274 La Tene B2-C1 unknown Suspected Expert -
-
275 La Tene C2-D unknown Suspected Expert -
-
276 Proto-Carolingian present Inferred Expert -
Tables were used to calculate the date of Easter [1]

[1]: (Fouracre and Gerberding 1996, 331)


277 French Kingdom - Late Capetian present Inferred Expert -
Weight standard of Troyes - became an international standard [1]

[1]: (Spufford 2006, 146)


278 French Kingdom - Late Valois present Confident Expert -
Each region had own measures for dry goods and wine despite effort by Henri II (1547-1559 CE) in Paris to impose one standard. [1]

[1]: (Potter 1995, xvi)


279 French Kingdom - Early Bourbon present Confident Expert -
-
280 French Kingdom - Late Bourbon present Confident Expert -
First collection of Industrial statistics from 1664 CE. By c1700 CE there was a corps of industrial inspectors. [1]

[1]: (Ladurie 1991, 175-176)


281 Sarazm absent Confident Expert -
"The Achaemenids brought writing to Sogdiana, and the written language long remained the Aramaic of the Achaemenid Empire." [1]

[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 17)


282 Andronovo absent Confident Expert -
"The Achaemenids brought writing to Sogdiana, and the written language long remained the Aramaic of the Achaemenid Empire." [1]

[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 17)


283 Koktepe I absent Confident Expert -
"The Achaemenids brought writing to Sogdiana, and the written language long remained the Aramaic of the Achaemenid Empire." [1]

[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 17)


284 Ancient Khwarazm absent Confident Expert -
"The Achaemenids brought writing to Sogdiana, and the written language long remained the Aramaic of the Achaemenid Empire." [1]

[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 17)


285 Koktepe II absent Confident Expert -
"The Achaemenids brought writing to Sogdiana, and the written language long remained the Aramaic of the Achaemenid Empire." [1]

[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 17)


286 Tocharians present Inferred Expert -
e.g. used in governor’s administration
287 Sogdiana - City-States Period present Inferred Expert -
Contracts. "The principal collection of Sogdian documents available to us from 8th century Sogdiana—the documents from Mount Mugh—were found in 1933 in Tadjikistan. This collection is made up of the archives of one of the great Sogdian nobles who resisted the Arabs, Dèwà“tì‘, the lord of Panjikent and self-proclaimed king of Sogdiana. It is made up primarily of letters dealing with the struggle against the Arabs and the administration of his agricultural domains, but also contains a few contracts (for marriage, the purchase of a burial plot, et cetera)." [1]

[1]: (de la Vaissière 2005, 161)


288 Khanate of Bukhara unknown Suspected Expert -
-
289 Hmong - Late Qing absent Confident Expert -
The A-Hmao language was first written by the Pollard script in apprx. 1905. [1]

[1]: Duffy, John M. (2007). Writing from these roots: literacy in a Hmong-American community. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-3095-4.


290 Hmong - Early Chinese absent Confident Expert -
Chinese administrators produced clerical texts, [1] but here we are mainly interested in documents produced by the Hmong themselves.

[1]: Ling, Shun-sheng, Yifu Ruey, and Lien-en Tsao 1947. “Report On An Investigation Of The Miao Of Western Hunan”, 179


291 Ubaid absent Confident Expert -
There are not any evidence suggesting that the writing system has been already invented.
292 Uruk present Confident Expert -
[1] One of the first written ’documents’ were numerical tablets, discovered e. g. at Uruk, Susa, Godin and Jebel Aruda. [2] Most of the archaic texts had administrative character and were used as ’as an instrument in the management of economic transaction’ [3] However, there are few exceptions, there were found also the texts which were dedicated to educate scribes and were used as ’copy book’. [4]

[1]: Nissen et al. 1993, 11

[2]: Cooper 2004, 75-76

[3]: Nissen et al. 1993, 30

[4]: Nissan et al. 1993, 30


293 Early Dynastic present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Taylor 2013, 298-99


294 Akkadian Empire present Confident Expert -
[1] Ledgers. [2]

[1]: Crawford 2004, 197

[2]: (Foster 2016, 20-21) Foster, Benjamin R. 2016. The Age of Agade. Inventing Empire In Ancient Mesopotamia. Routledge. London.


295 Ur - Dynasty III present Confident Expert -
[1] "land register, a text recording the measures of individual administrative districts, their borders, gods and imperial functionaries." [2]

[1]: Roux 1998, 148

[2]: (Leverani 2014, 159) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


296 Isin-Larsa present Confident Expert -
"Price lists were also an integral part of these codes (from the one of Ur-Nammu to the one of Eshnunna; see Text 11.2). [...] Consequently, royal steles were left in market-places as references for the fair prices established by the king." [1]

[1]: (Liverani 2014, 200) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7DRZQS5Q/q/liverani.


297 Amorite Babylonia present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Oates, J. Babylon. Revised Edition. London: Thames and Hudson. p.80


298 Second Dynasty of Isin present Confident Expert -
"Within the land of Sumer and Akkad, the administration of the dynasty of Isin continued along the same lines as in the Kassite period." [1] Accounting records were used in the Kassite period. [2]

[1]: (Liverani 2014, 462) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7DRZQS5Q/q/liverani.

[2]: (Liverani 2014, 368) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7DRZQS5Q/q/liverani.


299 Bazi Dynasty absent Confident Expert -
"The lack of archival and administrative texts, which were already decreasing during the Second Dynasty of Isin, is a clear reflection of the administrative chaos of the time." [1]

[1]: (Liverani 2014, 469) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7DRZQS5Q/q/liverani.


300 Dynasty of E absent Confident Expert -
"The lack of archival and administrative texts, which were already decreasing during the Second Dynasty of Isin, is a clear reflection of the administrative chaos of the time." [1]

[1]: (Liverani 2014, 469) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7DRZQS5Q/q/liverani.


301 Parthian Empire II present Confident Expert -
"For an insight into the forms of Parthian taxation we can now look to the ostraca found in the citadel at the royal capital of Nisa. Almost 2,500 ostraca have been found since 1948 in the former wine-storage rooms at Nisa. All the documents date from the mid-second (no. 257 is of the year 97 = 151/150 B.C.) to the late first century B.C. and record payments of rent or taxes in kind, in this case wine." [1]

[1]: (Raschke 1976, 824-825) Raschke, Manfred G. in Haase, Wolfgang ed. 1976. Politische Geschichte (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Walter de Gruyter.


302 Abbasid Caliphate II present Inferred Expert -
-
303 Pre-Ceramic Period absent Confident Expert -
"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs." [1] Liverani says the so-called "urban revolution" of the Uruk phase occurred 3800-3000 BCE. [2]

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.

[2]: (Leverani 2014, 69-70) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


304 Formative Period absent Confident Expert -
"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs." [1] Liverani says the so-called "urban revolution" of the Uruk phase occurred 3800-3000 BCE. [2]

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.

[2]: (Leverani 2014, 69-70) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


305 Susiana - Muhammad Jaffar absent Confident Expert -
"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs." [1] Liverani says the so-called "urban revolution" of the Uruk phase occurred 3800-3000 BCE. [2]

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.

[2]: (Leverani 2014, 69-70) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


306 Susiana A absent Confident Expert -
"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs." [1] Liverani says the so-called "urban revolution" of the Uruk phase occurred 3800-3000 BCE. [2]

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.

[2]: (Leverani 2014, 69-70) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


307 Susiana B absent Confident Expert -
"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs." [1]

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


308 Susiana - Early Ubaid absent Confident Expert -
"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs." [1]

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


309 Susiana - Late Ubaid absent Confident Expert -
"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs." [1]

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


310 Susa I absent Confident Expert -
"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs." [1]

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


311 Susa II present Confident Expert -
"Precise stratigraphic excavations conducted in recent decades have allowed us to trace developments at Susa in the Uruk phase, notably of an accounting system that preceded the slightly later appearance of writing." [1] "documents" [1] Lake Uruk phase (second half fourth millennium BCE) administrative tablets show: lists divided into categories such as professions, birds, vases, plants.. [2] "everything points to the direct influence of Mesopotamian accounting procedures on Susa in Late Susa II times." [3]

[1]: (Amiet, Chevalier and Carter 1992, 4) Amiet, Pierre. Chevalier, Nicole. Carter, Elizabeth. in Harper, Prudence O. Aruz, Joan. Tallon, Francoise. eds. 1992. The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[2]: (Leverani 2014, 78) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.

[3]: (Potts 2016, 66) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.


312 Susa III present Confident Expert -
"Clay tablets with Proto-Elamite writing also occur at Anshan in an association with a large building embellished with paintings." [1] "Proto-Elamite influence even spread across the great eastern desert of Lut to Shahr-i Sokhta, where the Proto-Elamite accounting system is found in use by people whose cultural affinities lay not with the Proto-Elamite world but with the inhabitants of Turkmenia and the region south of the Hindu Kush mountain range." [1] Lake Uruk phase (second half fourth millennium BCE) administrative tablets show: lists divided into categories such as professions, birds, vases, plants.. [2]

[1]: (Amiet, Chevalier and Carter 1992, 4) Amiet, Pierre. Chevalier, Nicole. Carter, Elizabeth. in Harper, Prudence O. Aruz, Joan. Tallon, Francoise. eds. 1992. The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[2]: (Leverani 2014, 78) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


313 Elam - Awan Dynasty I present Confident Expert -
c2000-1500 BCE the neighbouring Babylonians "constructed tables to aid calculation." [1]

[1]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html


314 Elam - Shimashki Period present Confident Expert -
[1] c2000-1500 BCE the neighbouring Babylonians "constructed tables to aid calculation." [2] "To relieve the tedium of long calculations, the Mesopotamians made extensive use of mathematical tables. These included tables for finding reciprocals, squares, cubes, and square and cube roots, as well as exponential tables and even tables of values of n3 + n2, for which there is no modern equivalent." [3] There is very little known regarding the Shimashki dynasty, and there are found only few inscription, lists and seals with names of lugal or ensi of Elam and Anshan from this dynasty (e. g. Imazu, Idaddu I, Ebarti II). [4]

[1]: Hinz 1971, 654

[2]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html

[3]: (Joseph 2011, 142) Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition). Princeton University Press.

[4]: Potts 2012, 42-43


315 Elam - Early Sukkalmah present Confident Expert -
[1] c2000-1500 BCE the neighbouring Babylonians "constructed tables to aid calculation." [2] "To relieve the tedium of long calculations, the Mesopotamians made extensive use of mathematical tables. These included tables for finding reciprocals, squares, cubes, and square and cube roots, as well as exponential tables and even tables of values of n3 + n2, for which there is no modern equivalent." [3]

[1]: Potts 1999, 163

[2]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html

[3]: (Joseph 2011, 142) Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition). Princeton University Press.


316 Elam - Late Sukkalmah present Confident Expert -
[1] c2000-1500 BCE the neighbouring Babylonians "constructed tables to aid calculation." [2] "To relieve the tedium of long calculations, the Mesopotamians made extensive use of mathematical tables. These included tables for finding reciprocals, squares, cubes, and square and cube roots, as well as exponential tables and even tables of values of n3 + n2, for which there is no modern equivalent." [3]

[1]: Potts 1999, 163

[2]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html

[3]: (Joseph 2011, 142) Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition). Princeton University Press.


317 Elam - Kidinuid Period present Confident Expert -
Administrative tablets found at Malyan record transfers of metals such as gold and silver as well as hides and food. [1]

[1]: Carter, E. and Stolpher, M.W. 1984. Elam: Surveys of Political History and Archaeology. Near Eastern Studies. Volume 25. Berkley: University of California Press. p.42


318 Elam - Igihalkid Period present Confident Expert -
Administrative tablets found at Malyan record transfers of metals such as gold and silver as well as hides and food. [1]

[1]: Carter, E. and Stolpher, M.W. 1984. Elam: Surveys of Political History and Archaeology. Near Eastern Studies. Volume 25. Berkley: University of California Press. p.42


319 Elam - Shutrukid Period present Confident Expert -
Administrative tablets found at Malyan record transfers of metals such as gold and silver as well as hides and food. [1]

[1]: Carter, E. and Stolpher, M.W. 1984. Elam: Surveys of Political History and Archaeology. Near Eastern Studies. Volume 25. Berkley: University of California Press. p.42


320 Elam II present Confident Expert -
"Apart from this ’Chronicle’, there exists some Neo-Elamite inscriptions of the late 8th and the 7th centuries BC, a few documents in Elamite from the same period (mostly concerning loans and not very informative) and an archive of the shops of the royal craftsmen, dating from the very end of the existence of independent Elam, viz. the 6th century BC." [1]

[1]: (Diakonoff 1985, 19)


321 Elam III present Confident Expert -
"Apart from this ’Chronicle’, there exists some Neo-Elamite inscriptions of the late 8th and the 7th centuries BC, a few documents in Elamite from the same period (mostly concerning loans and not very informative) and an archive of the shops of the royal craftsmen, dating from the very end of the existence of independent Elam, viz. the 6th century BC." [1]

[1]: (Diakonoff 1985, 19)


322 Elymais II present Inferred Expert -
inferred continuity with earlier periods
323 Ak Koyunlu present Inferred Expert -
inferred continuity with earlier periods
324 Qajar present Confident Expert -
"In 1851, the first modern institution of higher education was founded. Dar ul-Funun, a polytechic institute, was founded by Amir Kabir, the Prime Minister from 1848 to 1851, better known as Iran’s first reformer, to educate students in medicine, engineering, geology, and military sciences." [1]

[1]: (Maranlou 2016, 144-145) Sahar Maranlou. Modernization Prospects For Legal Education In Iran. Mutaz M Qafisheh. Stephen A Rosenbaum. eds. 2016. Experimental Legal Education in a Globalized World: The Middle East and Beyond. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Newcastle upon Tyne.


325 Badarian absent Inferred Expert -
-
326 Naqada I absent Inferred Expert -
The earliest phonetic hieroglyphic writing was found in the tomb J at the Abytos Cemetary U - on the pottery vessels and small bone/ivory labels [1] . They are dated to Naqada IIIA. But it should be noticed that already in Naqada I, signs similar to hieroglyphs have been found, especially on the pottery vessels (pot marks). However "none of these signs hints at the existence of phonograms, phonetic complements or detenninatives" and "the absence of an important component of the hieroglyphic writing system does not allow us to designate these signs as "hieroglyphic writing"" [2] . It can be rather treated as an abstract symbolic system [3]

[1]: Köhler, E. C. "Theories of State Formation". [in:] Wendrich, W. [ed.]. Egyptian Archaeology. Chichester: Blackwell Publishing. pg: 41.

[2]: Kahl, J. "Hieroglyphic Writing During the Fourth Millennium BC: an Analysis of Systems". Archeo-NiI 11 (2001); 122, 124.

[3]: Meza, A. 2012. ANCIENT EGYPT BEFORE WRITING: From Markings to Hieroglyphs. Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation. pg: 25.


327 Naqada II absent Confident Uncertain Expert -
The earliest phonetic hieroglyphic writing was found in the tomb J at the Abytos Cemetary U - on the pottery vessels and small bone/ivory labels [1] . They are dated to Naqada IIIA. But it should be noticed that already in Naqada I, signs similar to hieroglyphs have been found, especially on the pottery vessels (pot marks). However "none of these signs hints at the existence of phonograms, phonetic complements or detenninatives" and "the absence of an important component of the hieroglyphic writing system does not allow us to designate these signs as "hieroglyphic writing"" [2] . It can be rather treated as an abstract symbolic system [3]

[1]: Köhler, E. C. "Theories of State Formation". [in:] Wendrich, W. [ed.]. Egyptian Archaeology. Chichester: Blackwell Publishing. pg: 41.

[2]: Kahl, J. "Hieroglyphic Writing During the Fourth Millennium BC: an Analysis of Systems". Archeo-NiI 11 (2001); 122, 124.

[3]: Meza, A. 2012. ANCIENT EGYPT BEFORE WRITING: From Markings to Hieroglyphs. Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation. pg: 25.


328 Naqada II present Confident Uncertain Expert -
The earliest phonetic hieroglyphic writing was found in the tomb J at the Abytos Cemetary U - on the pottery vessels and small bone/ivory labels [1] . They are dated to Naqada IIIA. But it should be noticed that already in Naqada I, signs similar to hieroglyphs have been found, especially on the pottery vessels (pot marks). However "none of these signs hints at the existence of phonograms, phonetic complements or detenninatives" and "the absence of an important component of the hieroglyphic writing system does not allow us to designate these signs as "hieroglyphic writing"" [2] . It can be rather treated as an abstract symbolic system [3]

[1]: Köhler, E. C. "Theories of State Formation". [in:] Wendrich, W. [ed.]. Egyptian Archaeology. Chichester: Blackwell Publishing. pg: 41.

[2]: Kahl, J. "Hieroglyphic Writing During the Fourth Millennium BC: an Analysis of Systems". Archeo-NiI 11 (2001); 122, 124.

[3]: Meza, A. 2012. ANCIENT EGYPT BEFORE WRITING: From Markings to Hieroglyphs. Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation. pg: 25.


329 Egypt - Dynasty 0 present Inferred Expert -
"by Dynasty 0, writing was used by scribes and artisans of the Egyptian state." [1]

[1]: (Bard 2000, 74)


330 Egypt - Dynasty I present Confident Expert -
used by the state
331 Egypt - Dynasty II present Inferred Expert -
used by the state.
332 Egypt - Classic Old Kingdom present Confident Expert -
Census. [1]

[1]: (Malek 2000, 88)


333 Egypt - Late Old Kingdom present Confident Expert -
-
334 Egypt - Period of the Regions present Inferred Expert -
-
335 Egypt - Middle Kingdom present Confident Expert -
-
336 Egypt - Thebes-Hyksos Period present Confident Expert -
"records of administration, public and private" [1]

[1]: (Bourriau 2003, 173)


337 Egypt - Kushite Period present Confident Expert -
Libraries and archives existed.
338 Oaxaca - Tierras Largas absent Confident Expert -
The first written records in the Valley of Oaxaca are from the Rosario phase (700-500 BCE). [1] [2] Written records are therefore coded as absent for this period.

[1]: Flannery, K. V. and J. Marcus (1983). "The Cloud People." New York.

[2]: Marcus, J. and K. V. Flannery (1996). Zapotec civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley, Thames and Hudson London.


339 Oaxaca - San Jose absent Confident Expert -
The first written records in the Valley of Oaxaca are from the Rosario phase (700-500 BCE). [1] [2] Written records are therefore coded as absent for this period.

[1]: Flannery, K. V. and J. Marcus (1983). "The Cloud People." New York.

[2]: Marcus, J. and K. V. Flannery (1996). Zapotec civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley, Thames and Hudson London.


340 Oaxaca - Rosario absent Confident Expert -
Glyphs dating to this period have been deciphered as either calendrical dates or the names of prisoners. Sources do not suggest that evidence for other types of writing has been found. [1] [2]

[1]: Spencer, C. S. and E. M. Redmond (2004). "Primary state formation in Mesoamerica." Annual Review of Anthropology: 173-199, p179

[2]: Marcus, J. and K. V. Flannery (1996). Zapotec civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley, Thames and Hudson London, p130


341 Early Monte Alban I absent Confident Expert -
Glyphs dating to this period have been deciphered as either calendrical dates or the names of prisoners. Sources do not suggest that evidence for other types of writing has been found. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


342 Monte Alban Late I absent Confident Expert -
Glyphs dating to this period have been deciphered as either calendrical dates or the names of prisoners. Sources do not suggest that evidence for other types of writing has been found. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


343 Monte Alban II absent Confident Expert -
Glyphs dating to this period have been deciphered as either calendrical dates or the names of prisoners. Sources do not suggest that evidence for other types of writing has been found. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


344 Monte Alban III absent Confident Expert -
Glyphs dating to this period have been deciphered as either calendrical dates or the names of prisoners. Sources do not suggest that evidence for other types of writing has been found. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


345 Monte Alban IIIB and IV present Confident Expert -
Genealogical registers of noble ancestry (including important marriages, and sometimes important life events of individuals) were recorded in stone during this period. Some examples have been found in tombs. [1]

[1]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. p184


346 Monte Alban V present Confident Expert -
Genealogical registers were recorded in the previous periods (IIIB-IV), [1] and lists assumed to have continued in existence during this period.

[1]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. p184


347 Qatabanian Commonwealth absent Inferred Expert -
"Notably, none of these documents is a poem, a hymn, a collection of sayings, a mythological narration, a chronicle, a manual, or indeed any other sort of literary or technical composition." [1]

[1]: (Robin 2015: 92) Robin, Christian Julien. 2015. “Before Himyar: Epigraphic Evidence for the Kingdoms of South Arabia.” In Arabs and Empires before Islam, edited by Greg Fisher, 91-126. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: https://www-oxfordscholarship-com.ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654529.001.0001/acprof-9780199654529-chapter-3.


348 Yemen - Qasimid Dynasty present Confident Expert -
Dresch mentions tax registers: ’From the summary histories one forms an impression of steadily increasing disorder through the next twenty years, until ’the people of San’a’ and others’ invited the Turks again to take the city ’after they had tired of the chaos which prevailed there, the dominion of men from the tribes, the cutting of the roads, and the lack of any ordered security’ (al-jirafi 1951: 205-6). A more recently available, and more detailed, source gives a different impression (al-Hibshi 19 80: 29 6 ff.). But the Turks seem in any case to have had designs on the highlands: they had increased their forces on the coast ’until stores were coming ashore with San’a’ printed on every load’ (ibid. 315), and when they finally arrived, in 1872, they demanded the tax registers which would reveal to them the administration and resources of the whole country (al-Wasi’I 1928: IIO). They were to remain in highland Yemen until 19 18.’ [1]

[1]: Dresch, Paul 1989. "Tribes, Government and History in Yemen", 217


349 Republic of Venice III present Confident Expert -
Account books. [1]

[1]: (Martin and Romano 2000, 2) John Martin. Dennis Romano. Reconsidering Venice. John Martin. Dennis Romano. eds. 2000. Venice Reconsidered: The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State 1297-1797. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore.


350 Republic of Venice IV present Confident Expert -
Account books. [1]

[1]: (Martin and Romano 2000, 2) John Martin. Dennis Romano. Reconsidering Venice. John Martin. Dennis Romano. eds. 2000. Venice Reconsidered: The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State 1297-1797. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore.


351 Hohokam Culture absent Confident -
There were no written records left by the Sonoran Desert People. [1]

[1]: ”History & Culture - Casa Grande Ruins National Monument (U.S. National Park Service),”. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJU2S97P


352 Antebellum US present Confident -
Scientific studies, census records.
353 Austria - Habsburg Dynasty I present Confident -
Government documents.
354 Napoleonic France present Confident -
-
355 Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II present Confident 1867 CE 1918 CE
Dictionaries; encyclopeadia. “In 1883 under the patronage of Crown Prince Rudolf, the government of Austria-Hungary initiated a vast project to make visible the diversity and dimensions of empire. The goal was to collect studies of the empire’s highly diverse geology, flora, fauna, and populations in a set of illustrated volumes to be made available for public subscription: the so- called Kronprinzenwerk.” [1] “The work of Josef Jungmann (1773-1847) had more specific philological value in regard to the Czech language. As prefect of the Academic Gymnasium in Prague he wrote a textbook on style in Czech and translated several works by Milton, Pope, Goethe, and Chateaubriand into Czech. Much of his lifework was focused on the compilation of a Czech-German dictionary in five volumes.” [2]

[1]: (Judson 2016: 8) Judson, Pieter M. 2016. The Habsburg Empire: A New History. Cambridge, USA; London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BN5TQZBW

[2]: (Kann 1974: 385) Kann, Robert A. 1974. A History of the Habsburg Empire 1526-1918. Los Angeles: University of California Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/RP3JD4UV


356 Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II present Confident -
Dictionaries; songbooks. “In Carniola it was largely members of the clergy who had put together the very first “Alpine Slavic” or “Carniolan- language” grammars, dictionaries, schoolbooks, and songbooks in the period 1815–1848.” [1]

[1]: (Judson 2016: 150) Judson, Pieter M. 2016. The Habsburg Empire: A New History. Cambridge, USA; London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BN5TQZBW


357 Early United Mexican States present Confident -
-
358 Spanish Empire II present Confident Expert 1716 CE 1814 CE
Census; encyclopaedias. “Military and fiscal reorganisation under the Bourbons in the eighteenth century created new sources for the demographic historian. Taxes on income led to inventories of the manpower of the Crown of Aragon, listing in some cases individuals and not just households. This was the model which the marquis of Ensenada tried to follow in Castile between 1750 and 1754, listing persons and ages in one of the most complete censuses for any pre-industrial population (though the proposed income tax could not be implemented). The famous Enlightened minister, the count of Aranda, was responsible in 1768 for the first survey of Castile and his native Crown of Aragon together. But the first modern census of Spain as a whole is reckoned to be that of his successor, the count of Floridablanca, in 1787.”(Casey 2002: 20) Casey, James. 2002. Early Modern Spain: A Social History. New York: Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2SNTRSWT “Putting the new economic doctrines into practice, Carlos III and Aranda ordered dramatic new public works such as the Canal of Aragon, they inaugurated regular stagecoach service to the major cities, and they established a royal school of agriculture at Aranjuez. Through their efforts, Spain had its first census in 1786, before even Britain.”(Bergamini 1974: 93) Bergamini, John D. 1974. The Spanish Bourbons: The History of a Tenacious Dynasty. New York: G. P Putnam’s Sons. https://archive.org/details/spanishbourbons00john. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5A2HNKTF “The great Encyclopedie, which had its troubles in France, was banned in 1759; but copies of it were available in Madrid, and lesser scientific encyclopedias were widely circulated.”(Bergamini 1974: 93) Bergamini, John D. 1974. The Spanish Bourbons: The History of a Tenacious Dynasty. New York: G. P Putnam’s Sons. https://archive.org/details/spanishbourbons00john. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5A2HNKTF
359 Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty II present Confident Expert -
Government and Administrative Records: The Russian bureaucracy, particularly from the time of Peter the Great onward, was known for its detailed and extensive administrative practices. This included keeping records of populations, tax collections, land ownership, military conscription, and other state-related activities.

Economic and Trade Data: Merchants, trading companies, and state organizations involved in commerce would maintain lists and tables for inventory, trade transactions, customs duties, and other economic data.

Scientific and Academic Classifications: In the field of science and academia, Russian scholars and institutions would use lists and tables for various purposes, including classification in natural sciences (like botany, zoology, and geology) and in compiling statistical and research data.

Religious and Ecclesiastical Records: The Russian Orthodox Church, an integral part of the empire’s social fabric, maintained records in the form of lists and tables, including parish registers, records of ecclesiastical decisions, and theological classifications. [1]

[1]: “Государственный Архив Российской Федерации - ГАРФ - Главная Страница,” accessed December 18, 2023, https://statearchive.ru/.. Zotero link: 25IR6P7G


360 Golden Horde present Confident -
Census records were kept. [1] The second census was carried out in 1274-75. [2]

[1]: Halperin 1987: 42, 50. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.

[2]: Atwood 2004: 78. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SJXN6MZD.


361 Anglo-Saxon England I Transitional (Absent -> Present) Confident -
Written records began being kept from the seventh century, including charters, king lists, historical works, and annals. “Kings were the most important benefactors of the religious houses within their kingdoms and naturally figure prominently in the archives of religious communities both through the records of their benefactions and in ‘historical’ records, such as saints’ Lives and annals, produced by individual religious houses. Religious houses might also act as repositories for the archives of their royal families and produce classes of records such as kinglists and genealogies for them.” [1] “It is usually accepted that contemporary annals began to be kept in Wessex at some point in the seventh century, and Stenton suggested that the Chronicle entry for 648 marked the beginning of a contemporary record of events. Entries are reasonably regular from 648 until 757 when they become extremely sparse until the accession of Egbert (802).” [2] “This process of re-valuation has, however, encouraged several authors to imagine that sub-Roman Britain, in its entirety, retained a significant political, economic and military momentum across the fifth century and even the bulk of the sixth. This in large part stems from attempts to develop visions of an Arthurian era of British success against the incoming Anglo-Saxons, as suggested by the Historia Brittonum of 829–30, and the Annales Cambriae of the mid-tenth century.” [3]

[1]: (Yorke 1990: 20) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN

[2]: (Yorke 1990: 128) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN

[3]: (Higham 2004: 3) Higham, Nick. ‘From Sub-Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England: Debating the Insular Dark Ages’, History Compass 2, no. 1 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-0542.2004.00085.x. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XZT7A79K


362 Us Reconstruction-Progressive present Confident -
Scientific studies, census records. [1]

[1]: Volo and Volo 2004: 20-27, 31-32, 34, 36, 89, 107, 138. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SIB5XSW97.


363 Chaco Canyon - Late Bonito phase absent Confident -
“Although the ancient people of the Southwest didn’t have a written language, they had effective ways to communicate.” [1]

[1]: (“Chaco Culture - Communication”) “Chaco Culture” NPS Museum Collections, accessed May 8, 2023, https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/chcu/index6.html. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NMRVDA5I


364 Alaouite Dynasty I present Confident -
Registers; government records. “Mawlây Ismâ’ïl bethought himself of this solution when he was organizing the Wadâya militia, as mentioned above. One of the secretaries of the Makhzen was M u h a m m a d ibn al-Kâsim ’Alïlïsh;16 whose father was also secretary to al-Mansür the Sa’âdï. ’The king had a militia of slaves’ he said to Mawlây Ismâ’ïl, ’and I possess the book in which m y father recorded their names’. He showed him this register, and told him that there were still a great many of these slaves in the Marrakesh area and that he would be able to collect them together and enter their names again in a special register in order to make them do military service.” [1]

[1]: (Ogot 1992: 225) Ogot, B. A. 1992. ed., General History of Africa: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century., vol. V, VII vols. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/24QPFDVP


365 Plantagenet England present Confident -
Records for weather and climate were kept alongside crop and pastoral records. Census records kept in manuscript form. Ecclesiastical parish records. [1]

[1]: (Prestwich 2005: 4-5, 591) Prestwich, Michael. 2005. Plantagenet England 1225-1360. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XTBKFDCI


366 British Empire I present Confident -
Natural history and classifications were popular from the beginning of the period. Directories. Government reports on the Empire, its people and lands. [1]

[1]: (Marshall 2006: 88, 170) Marshall, P. J. ed. 2006. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume II The Eighteenth Century. Vol. 2, 5 vols. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HGG2PPQQ


367 Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty I present Confident Expert -
Boyar Dumas Records: The Boyar Duma, a council of nobles advising the Tsar, kept records of their proceedings and decisions. These included lists of attendees, decisions made, and other administrative details. [1]

[1]: Robert O. Crummey, Aristocrats and Servitors: The Boyar Elite in Russia, 1613-1689 (Princeton University Press, 1983) Zotero link: 8ZXZMT6C


368 Soviet Union present Confident Expert 1923 CE 1991 CE
The Soviet Union was known for its meticulous and comprehensive record-keeping, which was a crucial aspect of its centralized planning and administration. This systematic approach to documentation covered various spheres of governance, economy, and society:

Economic Planning: Central to Soviet record-keeping was the detailed documentation associated with their Five-Year Plans.

Population Census: The Soviet government conducted regular censuses, gathering detailed information about the population.

Party Records: The Communist Party of the Soviet Union maintained extensive records of its members.

Military Documentation: The Soviet military kept thorough records on personnel, equipment, and operations.

Scientific and Academic Research: In the field of science and academia, research and studies were often accompanied by detailed records, including data tables and classifications, especially in natural and social sciences.

"The October Revolution of 1917 had as monumental an impact in the realm of archival administration as it did in most other aspects of society and culture, for it brought to Russia the most highly centralized archival system and the most highly state-directed principles of management, preservation, and utilization of documentary records that the world had seen." [1]

[1]: Patricia Kennedy Grimsted, “Archives in the Soviet Union: Their Organization and the Problem of Access,” The American Archivist 34, no. 1 (1971): 27–41, accessed November 24, 2023, https://www.jstor.org/stable/40291294. Zotero link: 4VUGMNII


369 Anglo-Saxon England II present Confident -
Written records began being kept from the seventh century, including charters, king lists, historical works, and annals. “Kings were the most important benefactors of the religious houses within their kingdoms and naturally figure prominently in the archives of religious communities both through the records of their benefactions and in ‘historical’ records, such as saints’ Lives and annals, produced by individual religious houses. Religious houses might also act as repositories for the archives of their royal families and produce classes of records such as kinglists and genealogies for them.” [1] “This process of re-valuation has, however, encouraged several authors to imagine that sub-Roman Britain, in its entirety, retained a significant political, economic and military momentum across the fifth century and even the bulk of the sixth. This in large part stems from attempts to develop visions of an Arthurian era of British success against the incoming Anglo-Saxons, as suggested by the Historia Brittonum of 829–30, and the Annales Cambriae of the mid-tenth century.” [2]

[1]: (Yorke 1990: 20) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN

[2]: (Higham 2004: 3) Higham, Nick. ‘From Sub-Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England: Debating the Insular Dark Ages’, History Compass 2, no. 1 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-0542.2004.00085.x. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XZT7A79K


370 Early Modern Sierra Leone absent Inferred 1650 CE 1832 CE
The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


371 Early Modern Sierra Leone present Confident 1833 CE 1896 CE
The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


372 Kaabu present Inferred -
Lists, tables, and classifications likely produced by literate, high-ranking mercantile minority. "In southern Senegambia, where non-Manding populations predominated, Manding was a prestigious language of the pagan aristocracy and, on the other hand, the language of the Muslim merchant network of Jakhanke. The existence of Manding Ajami in that area was already attested in the first half of the 18th century (Labat 1728; cited by Giesing & Costa-Dias 2007: 63), long before the pagan rule of the ñàncoo elite of the Kaabu was definitely smashed by Muslim Fulbe troops from Fuuta Jalon. In any case, the emergence of Ajami is not related to the establishment of a Muslim political power in this area: the main holders of Islamic writing in the area, the Jakhanke merchants, were for centuries integrated into the social system of the Kaabu confederation and often served as advisers and intermediates for the political elites." [1] "A number of terms have been used in this volume to refer to the usage of Arabic script for languages other than Arabic. Crosslinguistically, such writing systems are often termed ‘Arabic literature’, ‘Islamic literature’ or ‘Islamic writings’, and locally they are known by a large number of names, such as Wolofal, or Kiarabu. The term Ajami in particular (or variations, such as Äjam, Ajamiya, etc.), derived from the Arabic word ʿaǧam ‘non-Arab; Persian’, has gained some degree of popularity in academic literature and is also encountered as a self-denomination for these writing systems in some languages, such as Hausa." [2]

[1]: (Vydrin 2014: 201-202) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/E8Z57DNC/collection.

[2]: (Mumin and Verstegh 2014: 1) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PVIK4HGV/collection.


373 Futa Jallon present Inferred -
"In the field of religion and culture, the nineteenth century is said to have witnessed the golden age of Islam in the Futa Jalon. It was the century of great scholars and the growth of Islamic culture. All the disciplines of the Quran were known and taught: translation, the hadiths, law, apologetics, the ancillary sciences such as grammar, rhetoric, literature, astronomy, local works in Pular and Arabic, and mysticism. Nineteenth-century European visitors were highly impressed by the extent of the Islamization, which was visible in the large number of mosques and schools at all levels, the degree of scholarship, the richness of the libraries, and the widespread practice of Islamic worship. All this seems to have been facilitated by the use of the local language, Pular, as a medium of teaching and popularization of Islamic rules and doctrine." [1]

[1]: (Barry 2005: 539) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/6TXWGHAX/item-list


374 Mane absent Inferred -
The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


375 Middle and Late Nok absent Inferred -
"In sum, we have not found unambiguous evidence of social complexity and the often suggested highly advanced social system of the Nok Culture." [1]

[1]: (Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 251) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.


376 Kanem unknown Suspected -
The following quote suggests that this era has left behind few written texts. "Historical information on those emerging years of the empire is dim and has to be carefully extracted from the accounts of Arab writers (Levtzion and Hopkins 1981), the scanty internal evidence in the Kanem-Borno king lists (Lange 1977), and the few fragments of internal scripts that have been recorded by the German traveler Heinrich Barth (1857-59; Lange 1987) and the British colonial officer Richmond Palmer (1967; 1970)." [1]

[1]: (Gronenborn 2002: 103)


377 Middle and Late Nok absent Inferred -
"In sum, we have not found unambiguous evidence of social complexity and the often suggested highly advanced social system of the Nok Culture." [1]

[1]: (Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 251) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.


378 Pre-Sape Sierra Leone absent Inferred -
The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


379 Sape absent Inferred -
The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


380 Dutch Empire present Confident -
"At the same time, a first generation of botanists and medical specialists, such as Georg Marcgraf and Willem Piso in Brazil, Jacobus Bontius in Java, Georgius Everhardus Rumphius on Ambon and Hendrik van Reede tot Drakenstein in Malabar, created detailed inventories of the non-European flora and fauna." [1]

[1]: (Emmer and Gommans 2020: 81-82) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/AI9PPN7Q/collection.


381 Proto-Yoruba absent Confident -
The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. "Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary." [1]

[1]: (Ogundiran 2020: 391)


382 Classical Ife absent Confident -
The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. "Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary." [1]

[1]: (Ogundiran 2020: 391)


383 Late Formative Yoruba absent Confident -
The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. "Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary." [1]

[1]: (Ogundiran 2020: 391)


384 Allada absent Confident -
“In Allada the local people, it was noted in 1670, in the absence of writing used knotted strings to keep records of various matters, including commercial transactions (“the price of goods”).” [1]

[1]: Austin, Gareth, et al. “Credit, Currencies, and Culture: African Financial Institutions in Historical Perspective.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, 2001, p. 144: 33. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SPXH2IUW/collection


385 Whydah absent Inferred -
No writing system in Allada the year before Whydah became independent, so likely the same in Whydah: “Another question arising from the incidence of credit in both the local economy and the overseas trade is the nature of the indigenous system of recordkeeping. In Allada the local people, it was noted in 1670, in the absence of writing used knotted strings to keep records of various matters, including commercial transactions (“the price of goods”). Several later accounts allude to other mechanical devices for keeping financial (and fiscal) records in Dahomey.” [1]

[1]: Austin, Gareth, et al. “Credit, Currencies, and Culture: African Financial Institutions in Historical Perspective.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, 2001, p. 144: 33. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SPXH2IUW/collection


386 Oyo absent Confident -
The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. "Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary." [1]

[1]: (Ogundiran 2020: 391)


387 Proto-Yoruboid absent Confident -
The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. "Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary." [1]

[1]: (Ogundiran 2020: 391)


388 Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì absent Inferred -
No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” [1]

[1]: Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection


389 Kanem-Borno present Confident -
“Furthermore, the practice of recording orally the names and genealogies of the kings of Kanem seems to have existed since the 9th century. The introduction of Islam and the Arabic script codified this tradition by making it possible to write down the names of the kings. This list or chronicle of kings, the diwan or girgam, was written from the 13th or 16th century until the19th and contained the names of 67 kings from the 9th to the 19th century. It constitutes one of the most important sources for the history of Kanem-Bornu and has been extensively used by historians of the empire.” [1]

[1]: Hiribarren, Vincent. “Kanem-Bornu Empire.” The Encyclopedia of Empire, edited by Nigel Dalziel and John M MacKenzie, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2016: 3. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/KNHK5ANQ/collection


390 Foys absent Confident -
“The question as to the manner in which a record of the age of these children was kept by a people who had no writing, poses itself here.” [1]

[1]: HERSKOVITS, M. J. (1932). POPULATION STATISTICS IN THE KINGDOM OF DAHOMEY. Human Biology, 4(2), 252–261: 258. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8T74FM7D/collection


391 Benin Empire absent Inferred -
“Since the end of the 15th century, a great deal of material about Benin has been supplied by sailors, traders, etc., returning to Europe. However, information on the Edo people before this date is very difficult to obtain, as there was no written record and the oral record is at best rather fragmentary.” [1] “The theme of this study presses the sources for the reconstruction of Benin military history to its limits because written documents scarcely exist, except for the reports and accounts of European visitors.” [2]

[1]: Bondarenko, Dmitri M., and Peter M. Roese. ‘Benin Prehistory: The Origin and Settling down of the Edo’. Anthropos 94, no. 4/6 (1999): 542–52: 542. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Y4V3D623/collection

[2]: Osadolor, O. B. (2001). The Military System of Benin Kingdom, c.1440–1897. University of Hamburg, Germany: 27–28. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4RZF5H5/collection


392 Buganda absent Confident 1700 CE 1859 CE
"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. " [1]

[1]: (Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ.


393 Buganda unknown Suspected 1860 CE 1894 CE
"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. " [1]

[1]: (Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ.


394 Toro absent Confident -
"As we have seen, to secure their essential ties, the ancient states, lacking writing and money, relied on kinship, trust, and personal relationships, which were periodically rekindled by direct contact and exchanged words." [1]

[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 178) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.


395 Buganda absent Confident -
"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. " [1]

[1]: (Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ.


396 Karagwe absent Confident -
The following quote characterises the people of Tanganyika (the broader region of which Karagwe formed part) as "pre-literate" in the early 19th century. "We do not know what inland Tanganyikans believed in the early nineteenth century. They were pre-literate, and the religions of pre-literate peoples not only leave little historical evidence but are characteristically eclectic, mutable, and unsystematic." [1]

[1]: (Iliffe 1979: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB2AJMVC/collection.


397 Kingdom of Nyinginya absent Confident -
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]

[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.


398 Nkore absent Confident -
"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. " [1]

[1]: (Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ.


399 Ndorwa absent Confident -
Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]

[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.


400 Burundi absent Confident -
"As we have seen, to secure their essential ties, the ancient states, lacking writing and money, relied on kinship, trust, and personal relationships, which were periodically rekindled by direct contact and exchanged words." [1] Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [2]

[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 178) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.

[2]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.


401 Mubari absent Confident -
Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]

[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.


402 Gisaka absent Confident -
Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]

[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.


403 Fipa absent Confident -
The following quote characterises the people of Tanganyika (the broader region of which the Fipa formed part) as "pre-literate" in the early 19th century. "We do not know what inland Tanganyikans believed in the early nineteenth century. They were pre-literate, and the religions of pre-literate peoples not only leave little historical evidence but are characteristically eclectic, mutable, and unsystematic." [1]

[1]: (Iliffe 1979: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB2AJMVC/collection.


404 Bugesera absent Confident -
Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]

[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.


405 Nkore absent Confident 1750 CE 1859 CE
"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. " [1]

[1]: (Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ.


406 Nkore unknown Suspected 1860 CE 1901 CE
"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. " [1]

[1]: (Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ.


407 Buhaya absent Confident -
The following quote characterises the people of Tanganyika (the broader region of which Buhaya formed part) as "pre-literate" in the early 19th century. "We do not know what inland Tanganyikans believed in the early nineteenth century. They were pre-literate, and the religions of pre-literate peoples not only leave little historical evidence but are characteristically eclectic, mutable, and unsystematic." [1]

[1]: (Iliffe 1979: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB2AJMVC/collection.


408 Carnatic Sultanate present Inferred -
“The Persian records of the Nawab in the Tamilnad Archives, Madras, contain letters, government orders, accounts, service records of officials. There is also a diary maintained by Kishanchand, a trusted munshi of Mohammed Ali. It covers a period of about two years ending with February 1785.” [1]

[1]: (Ramaswami 1984, 329) Ramaswami, N.S. 1984. Political History of Carnatic Under the Nawabs. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/PTIS9MB4/collection


409 British Empire IIIIIIIIII present Confident -
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