Did accounting antedate writing?

              Washington School Continued Did Accounting Antedate Writing)
Dr. Newlove left the Y.M.C.A. School around
1923 to join the Consolidated Returns Divison of
the Internal Revenue Service. It was there that he
accumulated materials and experience for his later
textbooks on consolidated financial statements. In
1928, he joined the faculty at the University of
Texas and remained there until his retirement in
1967. And what happened to the Washington
School of Accountancy? It gradually faded away
into oblivion.
Working Papers Continued
permission of the author. Comments are invited
and should be addressed to Ashton C. Bishop,
Editor; Working Paper Series; c/o The Academy of
Accounting Historians; School of Business;
Virginia Commonwealth University; Richmond,
Virginia 23284 or P.O. Box 658; University Plaza;
Georgia State University; Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
Single copy price: Complimentary to members,
$1.00 to non-members.
8. Mail two copies of the manuscript (an original
and a photocopy) to:
Ashton C. Bishop, Editor
Working Paper Series
The Academy of Accounting Historians
School of Business
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia 23284 U.S.A.
A recent article in the Texas Times, a publication
of the University of Texas system, discussed the
research of Denise Schmandt- Besserat, a professor
of Middle Eastern studies at UT-Austin.
Her studies in 1977 of small clay geometric
tokens contained in clay envelopes with similar
markings on the outside pushed the roots of
writing back to 8500 B.C. Ms. Schmandt-Besserat
concluded that the tokens were used for household
and business record keeping.
Seven types of tokens were used, including
spheres, discs, cones, biconoids, ovoids, cylinders
and triangles. She noted that cones, spheres, and
triangles were units to measure capacity of grains,
barley in particular. She stated that the units were
not fully standardized and volume varied from
place to place. Various systems were used to
measure animals, barley, land and so forth.
Repetition of the sign signified quantity.
Ms. Schmandt-Besserat's latest research has been
a study of 183 impressed tablets found at sites in
Syria, Iraq, and Iran.These tablets came from
ancient Sumer during the period from 3500-3100
B.C. These records mark a turning point in
civilization where the temple became the center of
political and economic power over the masses.
Gods were perceived to be humanlike, and
production was dictated by religious administrators
to satisfy the needs of the gods. These gifts to the
gods were stored in special rooms in the temples
and later evolved into taxes.
Ms. Schmandt-Besserat concluded that Sumer
may be credited with the invention of writing.
Although Ms. Schmandt-Besserat is primarily
interested in the development of writing, it appears
as if there is great potential in these materials for
accounting historians. For example, if these tokens
do represent the origins of writing, the natural
conclusion is that the need for accounting records
led to the development of writing. Perhaps some
of our Texas members should get in contact with
Ms. Schmandt-Besserat.
The Accounting Historians Notebook, Spring 1980 12