Researchers investigating how the first writing arose identified the motifs on preliterate "cylinder seals" used in the trade of agricultural products and textiles.

Now, a team from the University of Bologna in Italy has linked symbols on ancient Mesopotamian seals with an archaic visual communication system called proto-cuneiform; an art form which would in ...

The symbol for rations is a human head eating ... The oldest known example of writing comes from Mesopotamia and dates to about 3300 BC. In time different-looking writing appeared in the river ...