Schmandt-Besserat, Denise
[DSB]
Education
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1964
Ecole du Louvre
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1953
Baccalauréat, Paris
Languages
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French (mother tongue)
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English
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German
Professional Experience
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2004 Professor Emerita, the University of Texas at Austin
1988 – 2004 Professor of Art and Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
1981 – 1988 Associate Professor, the University of Texas at Austin
1972 – 1981 Assistant Professor, the University of Texas at Austin
1978 – 1979 Acting Chief Curator, the University of Texas Art Museum
1976 – 1979 Assistant Director, The Center for Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
1969 – 1971 Research Fellow in Near Eastern Archaeology, Department of Anthropology, Peabody
Museum, Harvard University
Summer 1968 Research Assistant to W. Fairservis, American Museum of Natural History, New York (Work
on archaeological dictionary to be published by Charles Scribner’s Sons)
1965 – 1969 Department of Anthropology, Peabody Museum, Harvard University
1956 – 1960 French teacher to German government officials; Private teacher of the President of the
Federal Republic, Bonn Germany
Societies and Membership
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2011 Committee of Philology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw Branch
2008 – Present Hunminjeongeum Society (Korean Society)
2008 – Present Editorial Board SCRIPTA
2005 – Present Editorial Board, Near Eastern Archaeology.
2004 – 2006 Advisory Board, Archaeology Odyssey.
2001-Present Media Ecology
o 2002-2014 editorial board Explorations in Media Ecology
1993 – Present Centro Internazionale Ricerche Archeologiche,
Antropologiche e Storiche
1993 – 1995 Editorial Board, Written Communication.
1989 – Present American Schools of Oriental Research
1985 – Present Advisory Board, Visible Language
1978 – 1992 Advisory Editor, Technology and Culture
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1976 – Present American Oriental Society
1974 – 1976 President, Central Texas Society
1973 – 1974 Secretary, Central Texas Society
1973 – Present Archaeological Institute of America,
o 1983-1989 Member, Governing Board,
o 1985-1989 Chair, Committee on Archaeological Outreach
o 1987-1989 Member, Committee on Professional Responsibilities
o 1977-1983 Committee on Regional Symposia (Chair); Committee on Membership; Lectures
Committee
1969 – 2004 American Anthropological Association
Awards and Honors
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2008 Hamilton Book Award for When Writing Met Art
2008 Dr. h. c. Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio
2005 Malone Fellowship for a Study Visit to the Sultanate of Oman
2004 The Walter J. Ong Award for Career Achievement in Scholarship, The Media Ecology Association
2003 – 2004 Weeks Fellowship, Stanford Humanities Center, Stanford University, Ca.
2001 Fellowship, CAORG and American Center of Oriental Studies, Amman, Jordan
1999 How Writing Came About, listed as one of the 100 books that shaped science in the 20th century,
American Scientist, November-December 1999, p. 553
1999 Malone Fellowship for a study visit to Yemen.
1998 Hamilton Book Award for How Writing Came About.
Spring 1997 Fellowship, American Center of Oriental Studies, Amman, Jordan
1996 Malone Fellowship for a study visit to Saudi Arabia.
Summer 1995 Fellowship, American Center of Oriental Studies, Amman, Jordan
April 1993 Kayden National University Press book award for Before Writing
May 1990 Scholar in Residence, the University of Hiroschima and The University o Tsukuba, Japan
Spring 1989 Una Lecturer in the Humanities, The University of California, Berkeley
Fall 1987 Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Near Eastern Studies, The University of California,
Berkeley
Spring 1987 Guest Scholar, German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, Germany
1984 – 1985 Fellow, The Institute for Research in the Humanities, the University of Wisconsin, Madison
1979 Outstanding Woman in Humanities, American Association of University Women
1978 Jean Holloway Teaching Award, The University of Texas at Austin
1969 Radcliffe Fellow, Radcliffe Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Special Listings
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Present Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_Schmandt-Besserat
1982 – Present Who’s Who in America, 42nd – 67th Editions
2004 Who’s Who of American Women
1999 Who’s Who in America, Millennium Edition
1984 Who’s Who in Frontier Science and Technology, 1st Edition
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Research Grants
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2009 CAORC Senior Fellowship, The American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, to study
Anthropomorphic Clay Figurines at ‘Ain Ghazal: the Symbolic Significance.
2003 – 2004 Weeks Fellowship, Stanford Humanities Center.
2000 USIA/CAORC The American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Fellowship to study Neolithic
symbolism at Ain Ghazal, Jordan.
1997 NMERTP/ The American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Fellowship to study Neolithic
symbolism at Ain Ghazal, Jordan.
1996 The University of Texas Research Institute, Faculty Research Assignment grant for the study of
Neolithic Symbols at Ain Ghazal, Jordan
1995 USIA/ The American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Fellowship to study Neolithic
symbolism at Ain Ghazal, Jordan.
1995 Department of Education, grant to study archaeological collections at the National
Museum, Damascus, and the museums of Deir Ezzor, Raqqa and Aleppo, Syria.
1995 Summer Fellowship, College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin
1994 Summer Fellowship, College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin
1991 University of California, Berkeley, Una’s Lecture Committee, for publication of Before Writing.
1990 National Endowment for the Humanities for publication of Before Writing.
1987 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, for publication of tokens from Uruk
1986 Study visit – grant for faculty – German Academic Exchange Service, Germany
1984 American Council of Learned Societies, Grant in aid of Research to study archaeological
collections in Iraq
1984 American Council of Learned Societies, Travel Grant to attend the XXXI Rencontre
Assyriologique Internationale, Leningrad, 1983 Faculty Research Assignment, the University of Texas
Research Institute
1981 – 1980 Summer Research Grant, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
1979 Fellowship for Independent Study and Research, National Endowment for the Humanities
1977 – 1978 National Endowment for the Arts Grant for an exhibit on the Art of the Persian Empire
1976 Archaeological Institute of America, seed funds for organizing a lecture series on ancient Egypt
1974 – 1975 National Endowment for the Arts Grant for an exhibit on the art of Sumer
1970 – 1971 Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, to aid archaeological research on
use of clay before the invention of pottery in the Near East
Field Experience and Travel
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September 13 – 30, 2014 “Uzbekistan & Afghanistan”
April 26 – May 15, 2014 “Grand Tour of Persia… Ancient and Modern Iran”
March 10 – 28, 2014 “Iraq and Kurdistant – Cradle of Civilization”
April – May 2013 “Central Asia Border of Civilization”
Feb 10 – 24, 2013 “Saudi Arabia – the Forbidden Kingdom and Bahrain”
Nov 25 – Dec 8, 2012 “Sultanate of Oman”
Nov 18 – 26, 2012“The Wonders of the Arabian Gulf – an in-depth tour of the Sheikhdoms of Qatar and
the United Arab Emirates.”
Nov 4 – 25, 2012“Saudi Arabia… The Forbidden Kingdom,”
Nov 19 – Dec 3, 2011 “Saudi Arabia… The Forbidden Kingdom, and Qatar”
Oct 2 – 21, 2011 “Grand Tour of Persia… Ancient and Modern Iran”
May 3 – 18, 2011 Lebanon & Jordan
Oct 31 – Nov 14, 2010 Lecturer on a study visit to Saudi Arabia
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Sept 18 – Oct 9, 2010 Lecturer on a study visit to Iran
May 12 – 30, 2010 Lecturer on a study visit to Usbekistan
Mar. 1 – July 1, 2009 Research on Neolithic human figurines from ‘Ain Ghazal at ACOR, Amman with side
trips to Syria and Israel.
Nov 1 – 23, 2008 Lecturer for Spiekermann travel “Central Asia – the Borderland of Civilizations”
May 13 – 31, 2008 Lecturer for Spiekermann travel “Marvels of Central and Eastern Turkey”
Apr 17 – May 5, 2008 Lecturer for Distant Horizons “Iran – the Ancient Land
of Persia.”
Nov 2 – 17, 2007 Syria, Lebanon, Turkey
Nov. 1–21, 2006 Lecturer on study visit to Yemen.
Oct. 20 – Nov. 2, 2006 Lecturer on study visit to Oman.
June 2006 Lecturer on study visit to Iran.
May 22 – June 3, 2006 Lecturer on study visit to Iran
April 21 – May 11, 2005 Lecturer on study visit to Iran
Nov. 2005 Lecturer on a study visit to Iran
Sept. 2005 Lecturer on a study visit to Eastern Turkey
May 2005 Lecturer on a study visit to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon
March 2005 Study visit of the Sultanate of Oman
Dec. 2004 Lecturer on a study visit to Egypt
Oct. 2004 Lecturer on a study visit to western Iran
Oct. 2002 Lecturer on a study visit to Eastern Turkey,
January – May 2001 Study of Archaeological Collections in Amman, Jordan
April 20 – May 5, 2001 Lecturer on a study visit to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan
May 12 – 28, 2000 Lecturer on a study visit to Egypt
July 1999 Study visit to Yemen
May 1997 Study of archaeological collections at the Israel and Rockefeller Museums, Jerusalem Israel
April 1997 Study Visit to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
February – June 1997 Study of archaeological collections at the Institute of Archaeology, Yarmouk
University, Irbid Jordan
Dec. 1996 Study Visit to Saudi Arabia
June – July 1995 Research on archaeological collections at the National Museum, Amman and the
Museum of Jordanian Heritage, The University of Yarmouk, Irbid, Jordan; The National Museum,
Damascus and the Museums of Aleppo, Raqqa, and DeirEzzor,Syria, to study Neolithic symbolism, in
particular at the site of Ain Ghazal, Jordan.
June 1992 Visit to Malatya, Turkey, to study the relationship between tokens and seals in the fourth
millennium administration
January – March 1987 Study of archaeological collections in Berlin, Germany
June – July 1986 Study of Archaeological collections in Berlin and Heidelberg Germany
July – Aug 1984 Study of Archaeological collections in Baghdad, Iraq
July 1984 Study of Archaeological collections in Leningrad and Moscow, USSR
July – Aug 1980 Study of archaeological collections in Egypt and the Sudan (Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and
Khartoum)
May – June 1977 Visit to archaeological collections in France (Paris), Germany (Heidelberg, Berlin), Syria
(Aleppo), Jordan (Amman) and Iran (Tehran)
Summer 1975 Excavations at Ancient Akko (Israel), Survey in Galilee, Study of early clay collections in the
museums of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Jaffa
May – Aug 1971 Canadian expedition to Ganj-Dareh Tepe, Kermanshah, Iran
1971 Visit to archaeological collections in France (Paris), Denmark (Copenhagen), Turkey (Istanbul,
Ankara, Konya), Syria (Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra), Lebanon (Beirut), Iraq (Baghdad), and Iran
(Tehran)
1967 Harvard Survey of Kerman, Southeastern Iran.
Test excavation at Tepe Yahya
1964 Excavation of a Gallo-Roman
pottery workshop, Pont-sur-SeineFrance
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Courses Taught
Undergraduate Courses
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ARH 302 Survey of Ancient Art to Medieval Times
HUM350, ARH 381L Interface between Writing and Art
MES 381, LIN 394, HUM 350, T.C. 659b Symbols and the Origins of Writing
MES 320 The Middle East: Cradle of Civilization
ARH 361L Art of Sumer
MES 320, ARH 325 Sumer, the First Civilization
ARH 361L Religion, Magic and Art: The Ancient Near East
ARH 361L, MES 325 Art of Kings
ARH 361L/MES 320 Ancient Persian Art: Trade and Warfare
ARH 36IL Art of Ancient Egypt
ARH 379M Paleolithic Art
ARH 373K Survey of the Middle Eastern Art from the Origin to Islam
HUM 305, ARH 379M,TC 659b Ancient Materials
ARH 361L, MES 325 Ancient Technology through Art, The Ancient Near East
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ARH 381L Ancient Mesopotamia
ARH 381L Art as Power
ARH 381L Religion, Magic and Art: The Ancient Near East
ARH 381L Interface between Writing and Art
ARh2811L Symbols and the Origins of Writing
ARH 379M Ancient Iran
UC 385, UC 358, ARH 381L The Achaemenian Empire
UC 358, ARH 381L, ARH 394 Ancient Egypt
Graduate Seminars
Publications
Books and Monographs
 Forthcoming How Writing Came About, Chinese translation by Leyang Wang, The Commercial Press, ltd.
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of Beijing, China.
2013 Denise Schmandt-Besserat, ed., Symbols at ‘Ain Ghazal, ‘Ain Ghazal Excavation Reports Vol. 3, Ex
Oriente, The Free University Press, Berlin. Germany.
2008 How Writing Came About, Polish translation by Jolanta Kozlowska, Agade Publishing House,
Warsaw, Poland.
2008 How Writing Came About, Japanese translation, MOJIVA KOUSHITE UMARETA, by Ichiro Nakata
and Yoshiaki Koguchi, Iwanami Publishing Co. Tokyo, Japan.
2007 When Writing Met Art: From Symbol to Story., The University of Texas Press, Spring 2007.
1996 How Writing Came About, University of Texas Press.
1992 Before Writing, vol. 1, From counting to Cuneiform, The University of Texas Press.
1992 Before Writing, vol. 2, A Catalog of Near Eastern Tokens, The University of Texas Press.
1980 Editor, Ancient Persia. Malibu, California: Undena Publications.
1979 Editor, Early Technologies. Malibu, California: Undena Publications.
1978 Editor, Immortal Egypt. Malibu, California: Undena Publications.
1977 “An Archaic Recording System and the Origin of Writing.” Syro Mesopotamian Studies, Vol. 1.
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1976Editor, The Legacy of Sumer. Bibliotheca Mesopotamica, Vol. IV. Malibu, California: Undena
Publications.
Articles
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2014 “Figures with Raised Arms and Feet,” in Bill Finlayson and Cheryl Makerewicz, eds., Settlement,
Survey and Stone, Essays on Near Eastern Prehistory in Honour of Gary Rollefson Ex Oriente, Berlin, P. 257259
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2014 “From Counting to Writing: The Quest for Abstraction,” in Zoltan Csabai, ed.,Studies in Economic
and Social History of the Ancient Near East in Memory of Peter Vargyas. The University of Pécs,
L’Harmattan, Budapest, p. 227-238. ( Georgia + Wroclaw)
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2014 “Tokens” Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archaeologie, Vol. 14 1/2. Lieferung,
De Gruyter, Berlin, P. 87-89.
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2013 “When Writing Met Art” AION – Annali, Universita degli Studi di Napoli, L’Orientale, P, 245- 263.
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2012 “Tokens as Precursors of Writing”, in Elena L. Grigorenko, Elisa. Mambrino, David D. Preiss,
eds., Writing: a Mosaic of New Perspectives, Psychology Press, New York, P. 3-10.
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2012 “Tokens in China, Europe and Africa – the Significance,” Scripta, vol. 4, P. 1-12.
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2012 “Numeracy before Literacy,” in Zdzislaw, ed., Languages in Contact 2011, Philologica
Wratislaviensia: Acta et Studia vol. 1, p. 191-200.
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2011 “Tokens and Writing: the Cognitive Development” Journal of the Ocean University of China, Vol. 1.
P. 72-75 (in Chinese)
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2011 “Spirit and Demons of All Times” in Wolfgand Heimpel and Gabriella Frantz-Szabo, eds., Strings and
Threads, A Celebration of the Work of Anne Draffkorn Kilmer, Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, Indiana, p. 243249.
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2011 “Chirographic Culture”, in Patrick C. Logan, ed. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
Sciences Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p.154-157.
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2010 “The Impact of Writing on Art in the Ancient Near East”, Horizons, Vol. 1, No 1. P. 1 – 18.
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2010 “The Token System of the Ancient Near East: its Role in Counting, Writing, the Economy and
Cognition” in Colin Renfrew, eds. The Archaeology of Measurement, Comprehending Heaven, Earth
and Time in Ancient Societies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 27-34.
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2009 “Record Keeping before Writing,” Marco Mancini and Barbara Turchetta, Eds., Scrittura e Scriture:
Le Figure della Lingua. Atti del XXIX Convegno della Societa Italiana di Glottologia (Viterbo 28-30
ottobre 2004) Il Calamo, (Biblioteca della S.I.G. 31) Roma.P. 67-80.
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2009 “Communication with Symbols: Art and Writing”, Paul G. Bahn, ed., An Inquiring Mind: Studies in
honor of Alexander Marshack, Oxbow, Oxford, p. 263-267.
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2009 Tokens and Writing: the Cognitive Development, Scripta, Vol, 1, No 1, 2009, P. 145 – 154.
6
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2008 “Earliest Writing”, in Huang Yaping, Berthold Riese and Xiaobing Wang-Riese,Studies of Writing,
Jinan, China, P. 97-116.
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2008 with Michael Erard, “Writing Systems,” Encyclopedia of Archaeology, Elsevier. P. 2222-2233.
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2008 From Tokens to Writing: The Pursuit of Abstraction, Bulletin of the Georgian National Academy of
Sciences, vol. 3, No. 1, p. 162-167.
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2008 with Michael Erard, “Origins and Forms of Writing”, in Charles Bazerman, ed.,Handbook of Writing
Research, Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc, Inc., Publishers, Mahwah, N.J. p. 7.
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2007 “The Interface between Writing and Art in the Tepe Gawra Glyptic” Melanges en Honneur de Henri
de Contenson, Syria, vol. 83, 2006, p. 183-194.
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2006 “Visiting Archaeological Sites in Iran”, Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 68 No. 3, p. 139-144.
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2005 “About ‘Hieroglyphs’ – A Neolithic System of Sacred Symbols”, Neo-Lithics2/05, p. 39.
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2005 “The Interface between Writing and Art”, in Lance Strate and Edward Wachtel,
eds., The Legacy of McLuhan, Hampton Press, Inc. Cresskill, New Jersey, p. 109-121.
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2005 “Art and the Human Figure: Before and After Writing”, in M. Perna, ed., Studi in Onore Enrica
Fiandra, De Boccard, Paris, p. 357-368.
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2004 “The Birth of Narrative Art”, Archaeology Odyssey, Vol. 7, No 5, p. 36-55.
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2004 “Near East, Ancient: Neolithic,” in Antonia Bostrom, ed., The Encyclopedia of Sculpture, Vol. 2,
Fitzroy Dearborn, New York, p. 1153-54.
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2003 “The Origin of Writing,” Iranian Journal of Anthropology, vol. 1, No. 2, p. 22-32.
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2003 “Baghdad Then and Now”, EME, Explorations in Media Ecology, vol. 2, No. 2, p. 117-118.
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2003 “Masks of Death”, Archaeology Odyssey, Vol. 6, No 2, p. 19-27.
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2002 “Dal Cantabile allo Scriture”, Le Scienze, No. 12, 2002, p. 16-20.
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2002 “One, Two, Three,” Archaeology Odyssey, September-October, p. 6-7.
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2002 From Behind the Mask – Plastered skulls from ‘Ain Ghazal,” Origini vol. XXIV, p. 95-140.
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2002 “Signs of Life,” in Jack Meinhardt, ed. The Origins of Things, Biblical Archaeology, Washington D.C.,
p. 21-28.
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2002 “Signs of Life,” Archaeology Odyssey, Jan. -February, p. 6-7 and 63.
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2001 “Writing, Evolution of” International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavorial Sciences, Elsevier,
Amsterdam, p. 16619-16625.
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2001 “L’ impatto della Scrittura sull’ arte,” Pluriverso, vol. 3, p. 14-21.
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2001 “Feasting in the Ancient Near East,” in Michael Dietler and Brian Hayden, eds., Feasts,
Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives on Food, Politics, and Power. Smithsonian Institution
Press, Washington, DC, p. 391- 403.
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2000 “The Personal Name in Mesopotamia: Its Impact on the Evolution of Writing”Proceedings of the 1st
international Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Universita degli Studi di Roma La
Sapienza, Rome, p. 1493-1501.
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2000 “Le Feste Nel Vicine Oriente Antico,” in Simonetta Graziani, ed., Studi sul Vicino Oriente Antico
Dedicati alla memoria di Luigi Cagni, Vol. 2, Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e Oriente, Direzione Generale
dei Musei Vaticani, Rome, p. 921-932.
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1999 “Tokens: The Cognitive Significance,” 6th Neolithic Seminar, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Documenta
Praehistorica Vol. XXVI, p. 21-28.
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1999 “A Decorated Skull from MPPNB ‘Ain Ghazal,” with G. O. Rollefson and J. C. Rose, Paléorient, Vol.
24, No. 2, p. 99-104.
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1999 “The Origin of Writing and Counting in the Ancient Near East,” in Norman Simms, ed. Letters and
Texts of Jewish History, Hamilton, New Zealand, p. 51-59.
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1998 “A Stone Metaphor of Creation,” Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 61, No. 2, p. 109-117.
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1998 “‘Ain Ghazal Monumental Figures,” in Bulletin of American School of Oriental Research, vol. 310, p.
1-17.
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1998 “A Neolithic Female Revealing her Breasts,” in Jan Braun, ed. Written on Clay and Stone, Ancient
Near Eastern Studies Presented to Krystyna Szarzynska on the Occasion of Her 80th Birthday, Agade,
Warsaw 1998, p. 79-85.
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1998 “Neolithic Art and Symbolism at ‘Ain Ghazal,” American Journal of Archaeology, Vol.102, p. 582584.
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1997 “Accounting Before Writing in the Ancient Near East,” Porocilo, Vol. 24, p. 151-156.
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1995 “Animal Symbols at ‘Ain Ghazal,” Expedition, vol. 39, No. 1, p. 4858.http://www.museum.upenn.edu/expedition.
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1996 “Neolithic art and Symbolism at ‘Ain Ghazal,” American Journal of Archeology, Vol. 101, No. 3,
1997, p. 506-507.
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1996 “Symbols of Gods and Symbols of Goods,” in Piera Ferioli and Enrica Fiandra, ed. Administration in
Ancient Societies, Ministero per I beni culturali ambianti ufficio centrale per I beni archivistifci, Rome, P.
15-23.
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1996 “Writing,” The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, Oxford University Press, p. 761-763.
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1996 “Art, Writing and Narrative in Mesopotamia,” in H. Gasche and B. Hrouda, eds, Collectanea
Orientalia, Histoire, Arts de l’Espace et Industrie de la Terre, Recherches et Publications, Paris 1996, p.
315-322.
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1997 “Neolithic art and Symbolism at ‘Ain Ghazal,” American Journal of Archeology, Vol. 100, No. 3, p.
516-517.
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1995 “Non-verbal Communication in the Ancient Near East,” in Jack Sasson, ed.,Civilizations of the
Ancient Near East, Scribner’s, New York, p. 2097-2106.
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1994 “Forerunners of Writing,” in Harmut Günther, ed., Schrift und Schriftlichkeit, Walter de Gruyter Berlin,
p. 264-268.
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1994 “Oneness, Twoness, Threeness – How Ancient Accountants Invented Numbers,” reprinted from The
Sciences, 1987, in Frank J. Swetz, From Five Fingers to Infinity, Open Court, Chicago, p. 45-51.
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1994 “Tokens: a Prehistoric Archive System,” in Enrica Fiandra, Piera Ferioli, eds.,Archives Before Writing,
Centro Internazionale di Ricerche Archeologiche Anthropologiche e storiche, Rome, p. 13-28.
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1994 “Tokens in Minoan Crete,” Discussion for the paper presented by Jean-Claude Poursat in Enrica
Fiandra, Piera Ferioli, eds., Archives Before Writing, Centro Internazionale di Ricerche Archeologiche
Anthropologiche e storiche, Rome, p. 253-254.
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1994 “Tokens, Seals and Administration in Uruk in the Fourth Millennium B.C.,” inBeschreiben und Deuten
in der Archaeologie des Alten Orients, Festschrift für Ruth Mayer-Opificius, Altertumskunde des Vorderen
Orients, Vol. 4, 1994, p. 283-296.
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1994 “About the Authors,” in Connie Burton and Beverly Spicer, Open Ceiling, Futura Communications,
Austin, Texas, p. 105-8.
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1994 “Forerunners of Writing: The Social Implications” in W. C. Watt, Writing, Reading and Cognition,
Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, p. 303-310.
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1993 “Images of Enship,” in Marcella Frangipane, H. Hauptmann, M. Liverani et alii, eds, Between the
Rivers and Over the Mountains, Archaeologica Anatolica et Mesopotamica Alba Palmieri Dedicata,
Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche Archeologische e Anthropologiche dell’Antichita Universita di Roma
“La Sapienza,” Rome 1993. p. 201- 220.
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1992 “The Origin of Visible Language,” in Jan Wind, Brunetto Chiarelli, Bernard Bichakjian,
eds., Language Origin: a Multidisciplinary Approach, Kluwer Academic Publishers, the Netherlands, p.
225-234.
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1991 with Elisabeth Feldbush “Clay Tokens as Forerunners of Writing: The Linguistic Significance” in
Elisabeth Feldbush, ed., Proceeding of the 25th Colloquium of Linguistics, Paderborn, 1990, Verlag
Niemeyer, Tuebingen, p. 485-493.
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1990 “The Earliest Precursor of Writing,” in William S. Y. Wang, The Emergence of Language, Readings
from Scientific American Magazine, W. H. Freeman and Co, New York, p. 31-45.
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1990 “Symbols in the Prehistoric Middle East,” in Richard Leo Enos, ed., Oral and Written Communication:
Historical Approaches, Written Communication Annual, Volume 4, p.16-31.
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1990 “Accounting in the Prehistoric Middle East,” Archeomaterials, Vol. 4, No. 1, p. 15-23.
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1989 “Two Precursors of Writing in One Reckoning Device”, in Wayne M. Senner,The Origins of Writing,
University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, p. 27-39.
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1989 Jointly with Liane Jacob-Rost, “Tokens aus dem Heiligtum Eanna in Uruk,”Forschungen und
Berichte, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Vol. 27, P. 11-50.
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1989 “Conto e Contabilita nel Medio Oriente Prehistorico,” in F. Mario Fales, ed.Prima Dell’Alphabeto,
Studi e Documenti, Vol. 4, Erizzo Editrice, Venice, P. 54-60.

1988 “Tokens at Uruk,” Baghdader Mitteilungen, Vol. 19, P. 1-175.

1988 “From Accounting to Writing,” In Bennett A. Rafoth and Donald L. Rubin, eds,The Social
Construction of Written Communication, Ablex Publishing Co. Norwood, New Jersey, Chapter 5, P. 119130.

1988 “Accounting in Prehistory,” Proceedings of the Fifth World Congress of Accounting Historians, No.
301, p. 1-10.

1988 “Tokens as Funerary Offerings,” Vicino Oriente, Vol. VII, P. 3-9.

1988 “Quantification and Social Structures,” in David R. Maines and Carl Couch, eds, Information,
Communication and Social Structures. Charles C. Thomas, publisher, Springfield, Ill. P. 137-153.

1987 “Oneness, Twoness, Threeness,” The Sciences, Vol. 27, No. 4, p. 44-49.

1986 “Tokens: Facts and Interpretation,” Visible Language, Vol. 20, No. 3, P. 250-273.

1986 “An Ancient Token System: The Precursor to numerals and Writing,”Archaeology, Vol. 39, No. 6, p.
32-39.

1986 “Tokens at Susa,” Oriens Antiquus, Vol. XXV, No. 1-2, p. 93-125.

1986 “The Origin of Writing – An Archaeologist’s Perspective,” Written Communications, Vol 3. No. 1, p.
31-45.

1986 “The Earliest Precursor of Writing” (reprinted from Scientific American, vol. 238, No. 6, 1978) in
William S.Y. Wang, ed., Language, Writing and the Computer, W.H. Freeman Co., p. 31-40.

1986 “Before Numerals,” (reprinted from Visible Language, Vol. 18, No. 1) Orpheus, No. 1, p. 48-60.

1985 “Clay Symbols for Data Storage in the VIIth Millennium B.C.” in M. Liverani and Alba Palmieri,
eds., Studi di Paletnologia in onore di Salvatore M. Puglisi, Universita di Roma, La Sapienza, Roma, p. 149154.

1985 “Tonmarken und Bilderschrift,” Das Altertum, Vol. 31, No. 2, p. 76-82.

1985 “Avant la Naissance des Chiffres” Internationale de l’Imaginaire, Vol. 2. p. 73-82.

1984 “Before Numerals,” Visible Language, Vol. 18, No. 1, p. 48-60.

1984 “Proto-literate Counting: The Archaeological Evidence,” Collected Papers of the Society for Near
Eastern Studies, Montreal, Vol. 2, p. 21-24.

1983 “Tokens and Counting,” Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 46, p. 117-120.

1983 “The Earliest Precursor of Writing” (reprinted from Scientific American Vol. 238, No. 6, 1978), in Brian
M. Fagan, ed., Prehistoric Times, W. H. Freeman Co., p. 194-203.

1982 “The Emergence of Recording,” American Anthropologist, Vol. 84, No. 4, p. 871-878.
10

1982 “How Writing Came About,” Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik, p. 1-5.

1982 “The Earliest Precursor of Writing,” (reprinted from Scientific American, Vol. 238, No. 6, 1978) in S. Y.
Wang, ed., Human Communication, W. H. Freeman Co., p. 80-89.

1981 “Decipherment of the Earliest Tablets,” Science, Vol. 211, 18 January, p. 283-285.

1981 “Tablets and Tokens: A Re-Examination of the So-Called ‘Numerical Tablets’.” Visible Language,
Vol. XV, No. 3, p. 321-344.

1981 “The Invention of Writing,” (reprinted from Discovery, Vol. I, No. 4, 1977) in Maxine C. Hairstone and
Cynthia L. Selve, eds., Selected Papers from the 1981 Texas Writing Conference, Austin, p. 213-236.

1981 “The Envelopes that Bear the First Writing,” Technology and Culture, Vol. 21, No. 3, P. 357-385.

1980 “Ochre in Prehistory: 300,000 Years of the Use of Iron Ores as Pigments.” In T. A. Wertime and J.
Muhly, eds., The Coming of the Age of Iron. Festschrift in honor of Cyril S. Smith. New Haven,
Connecticut: Yale University Press, p. 127-150.

1980 “An Archaic Recording System Prior to Writing” in F.E.H. Schroeder, Popular Culture Before Printing,
Bowling Green University Press, p. 17-36.

1979 “L’invention de l’ecriture,” in G. Freyre et al., Les Imaginaires, vol. II, p. 119-130.

1979 “Reckoning Before Writing,” Archaeology, Vol. 32, No. 2, p. 22-31.

1979 “An Archaic Recording System in the Uruk-Jemdet Nasr Period,” American Journal of Archaeology,
Vol. 83, No. 1, p. 19-48.

1979 “The Earliest Precursor of Writing,” reprinted from Scientific American, Vol. 238, No. 6, C.C.
Lamberg-Karlovsky, ed., in Hunters, Farmers and Civilizations, W.H. Freeman and Co., p. 152-161.

1977 “The Earliest Precursor of Writing,” Scientific American, Vol. 238, No. 6, p. 50-58.

1977 “The Beginnings of the Uses of Clay in Turkey,” Anatolian Studies, Vol. 27, p. 133-150.

1977 “The Invention of Writing,” Discovery: Research and Scholarship at the University of Texas at Austin,
Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 4-7.

1978 “The Earliest Uses of Clay in Syria,” Expedition, Vol. 19, No. 13, p. 38-42.
(http://www.museum.upenn.edu/expedition).

1977 Jointly with C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, “A Reevaluation of the Bampur, Khurab, and Chah Huseini
Collection in the Peabody Museum: Relations with Tepe Yahya and Ceramics of Tepe Yahya IV C.” In T.
C. Young, Jr. and L. D. Levine, eds.,Mountains and Lowlands: Essays in the Archaeology of Greater
Mesopotamia. Festschrift in honor of R. H. Dyson Jr., Malibu, California: Undena Publications, p. 113-134.

1976 “Sumer: Art in an Urban Context.” In Denise Schmandt-Besserat, ed., The Legacy of Sumer. Malibu,
California: Undena Publications, p. 79-86.

1976 “A Series of Exhibits on the Ancient Middle East at The University of Texas at Austin,” Archaeology,
Vol. 30, No. 1, p. 56-57.
11

1974 “The Beginnings of the Use of Clay in the Zagros,” Expedition, Vol. 16, No. 2, p. 10-17.
(http://www.museum.upenn.edu/expedition).

1967 “A Palestinian Pottery Collection on Exhibit at the Peabody Museum,”Harvard University Bulletin,
Vol. XV, No. 4, p. 345-352.
Unpublished Articles

2009 “Numerate and Literate Societies,” Proceedings of the International Academic Forum On the
Symbols Unearthed in Bengbu Shuangdun Heritage Sites and the Origin of Primitive Civilization, Bengbu,
China.

1990 “Tokens, Envelopes and Impressed Tablets at Habuba Kabira,” in Eva Strommenger, ed., Habuba
Kabira Sud- Die Kleinen FunDeglde, Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichung Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft,
26 p.
Translations

“Les plus anciens précurseurs de l’écriture.” Pour la Science, No. 10, p. 12-22.

“Gli antecedenti dell a scrittura.” Le Scienze, Vol. XXI, No. 120, p. 6-15.

“El primer antecedente de la escriture.” Investigacion y Ciencia. August, p. 6-17.

“Vom Urprung der Schrift”, Spektrum der Wissenschaft. December, p. 4-13.
Encyclopedia Articles

Forthcoming with Michael Erard, “Writing Systems”, Encyclopedia of Archaeology, Elsevier, Oxford.

Forthcoming “Registrazioni proto-storiche,” Storia della Scienza, Encyclopedia Italiana.

Forthcoming 2015 “Evolution of Writing,” International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 2d Edition, Elsevier, Oxford.

Forthcoming Archaeological Encyclopedia of Syro-Mesopotamia, Iran and Arabian Peninsula:
o
“En – Priest king,”
o
“Ancient Recording Systems,”
o
“Tokens,”
o
“Origins of Writing”.

2000 “Ancient Near East,” Encyclopedia of Sculpture, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago.

1999 “Artifacts and Civilization” The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences, p. 35-37.

1996 “Writing,” The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, Oxford University Press, p. 761-763.

1996 “Writing” The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, Oxford University Press, p. 781-3.
12

1989 “Tokens”, International Encyclopedia of Communications, Oxford University Press and the
Annenberg School of Communication, The University of Pennsylvania, p.

1980 “Tokens”, The Arete Encyclopedia of Archaeology.
Reviews

2000 Richard Rudgley, “Lost Civilizations of the Stone Age”, “The Free Press, New York, Isis. Vol. 91, No. 3,
P. 579-580.

1995 Henri-Jean Martin, “The History and Power of Writing”, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1994, Technology
and Culture.

1995 Henri-Jean Martin, “The History and Power of Writing”, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1994, Los Forum, No
21, p. 32-34.

1994 H. Nissen, P. Damerow, R.K. Englund, “Archaic Bookkeeping: Early Writing and Techniques of
Economic Administration in the Ancient Near East<“, The University of Chicago Press, 1993, Forum,
Language Origin Society, p. 12-14.

1995 Ibid, for Libraries and Culture, vol. 30, No. 3, p. 313-314.

1995 H. Nissen, P. Damerow, R.K. Englund, “Fruehe Schrift und Techniken der Wirtschafts-verwaltung im
alten Vorderen Orient”, for the Journal of The American Oriental the Society, Vol. 114, No. 4 (1994) p.
659-661.

1991 Paul Heyer, “Communication and History”, Libraries & Culture, Vol. 26, No 4, P. 613 -615.

1991 Paul Heyer, “Communication and History”, in Language Origin Society Newsletter, No 12, P. 15-17.

1990 Paul Heyer, “Communication and Historyv, in Comtemporary Sociology, vol.18, No. 5, p. 540-541.

1989 Jack Goody, “The Logic of Writing and the Organization of Society”, inLibraries and Culture, Vol.
24, No 2, p. 239-241.

1988 Jack Goody, “The Logic of Writing and the Organization of Society”, inLanguage Origins Society
Newsletter, No. 4, p. 9-12.

1988 Roy Harris, “The Origin of Writing,” in Libraries and Culture, Vol. 23, No. 1, p. 81-83.

1987 Roy Harris, “The Origin of Writing,” in Language Origins Society Newsletter, No. 5, p. 14-18.

1986 “Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals from the Marcopoli Collection”, by Beatrice Teissier, The
Journal of Library History, Vol. 21, No. 4, p. 774-775.

1983 “Pre-Writing in Southeastern Europe”, by Shan M. N. Winn, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol.
88, p. 71-72.

1983 “La Statuaire du Proche Orient Ancien”, by Agnes Spycket, Journal of the American Oriental
Society, Vol. 103, No. 4, p. 789-791.
13

1979 “L’Art Antique du Proche Orient”, by Pierre Amiet, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol.
99, No. 3, p. 480.

1978 “The Neolithic of the Near East”, by James Mellaart, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol.
98, No. 1, p. 593-594.

1978 “Stone Age Painting in India”, by Robert R. R. Brooks and Vishnu S. Wakankan, American
Anthropologist, Vol. 80, No.1, p. 184-185.

1977 “Godin Tepe: Second Preliminary Report,” by T. Cuyler-Young, Jr. and L. Levine, Journal of the
Oriental Society, Vol. 97, p. 61-64.
Exhibition Catalogues

1999 Legacy of the Middle East, Exhibition on the Occasion of the Centennial of King Abdul Aziz Ibn
Abdul Rahman Al-Saud.
o
Catalogue for the Exhibition
o
Teachers’ Guide
o
Internet version of Catalogue and Teachers’ Guide, http://www.humanities-interactive.org.
o
Video for the Exhibition

1977 Ancient Persia, The Art of an Empire, Austin, Texas, The University Art Museum. p. 117.

1975 The First Civilization: The Legacy of Sumer, Austin, Texas: The University of Texas Art Museum, p. 95.

1966-68 Descriptive catalogues of the Peabody Museum collections (mimeos):
o
Alishar Huyuk,
o
Troy,
o
Mersin,
o
Tarsus,
o
Palestinian Pottery Assemblage,
o
Samieh,
o
Jericho,
o
Beth Shemesh,
o
Sir Aurel Stein Collection,
o
Southeastern Iran,
o
Predynastic Egypt
Audio Visual

1987 Origins and Development of Western Writing, (video). Alarion Press, Boulder, Colorado.

1980 The Origin and Development of Writing, (Sound film strip) Alarion Press, Boulder, Colorado.
14

1979 Origins of Writing, (slide show), circulated by the Archaeological Institute of America.
15