Reading Comprehension

PT146 · S4 · P3 · Q20 Clay Tokens

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Hundreds of clay tablets marked in cuneiform have been found in excavations of the Sumerian city of Uruk (in present-day Iraq).

Topic

The origins and evolution of writing in ancient Mesopotamia, focusing on how clay tokens led to abstract cuneiform writing.

Framework

Theme / Example

Main Point

Ancient clay tokens served as precursors to written language in Mesopotamia, and over time, this token system transformed into increasingly abstract and flexible writing forms like cuneiform. The Most Valuable Sentence: The passage’s main point is neatly summed up in the transition of tokens to written marks—especially the lines, (Paragraph 3)

P1: Discovery of Early Writing and the Puzzle of Abstract Symbols

Researchers find ancient clay tablets from Uruk, dated around 3000 B.C., with abstract, non-pictorial cuneiform writing—which is unusual for such an early date. Archaeologists often ignored even older clay tokens found nearby, but Denise Schmandt-Besserat argues these tokens were actually early precursors to writing.

P2: Description and Evolution of Tokens into Record-Keeping

Early tokens were simple in shape and sometimes inscribed, later found inside sealed "envelope" tablets. These inscribed tokens probably served as records of agricultural contributions to temples. After 4000 B.C., more sophisticated token shapes appeared, reflecting increased complexity in crafts and record-keeping.

P3: Transition from Token System to Written Language

Eventually, the system shifted from three-dimensional tokens to marks on clay tablets (about 3100 B.C.), allowing for record-keeping using drawn symbols instead of physical tokens. This evolved into full-fledged writing, with separate signs for numerals, objects, and even abstract ideas—leading to a more flexible and advanced written language system.

20.

It can be inferred from the discussion of clay tokens in the second paragraph that

there were many tokens that
Out of Scope
Out of Scope: designated more than one We don't hear about any token, in the 2nd paragraph, that stood for more than one idea.
21% picked this
nonagricultural goods and products came
Opposite, if anything
The only things we were told was contributed to temple-based pools were grain and livestock, both of which are agricultural goods and products. So we only have opposite-support for the idea that temple-based pools preferred nonagricultural things.
6% picked this
Correct
some later tokens were less
Why this is right
The earliest tokens (at the beginning of the 2nd paragraph) are just cones, spheres, or pyramids, sometimes inscribed, sometimes blank. If a pyramid represents livestock, for example, that's pretty abstract (i.e. nonrepresentational). Meanwhile, the last sentence in the 2nd paragraph tell us that the forms emerging in the post 4000 B.C. explosion of tokens are figurative -- one has the figure of a bowl. The other has a jar with handles. That's more representational, less abstract. The later token is just showing you, "jar with handles", not asking you to remember that "sphere + two lines on it = jar with handles".
Skill tested: Inference · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
62% picked this
the storage and transportation of
Too Strong
Too Strong: most important Out of Scope: transporting of liquids The "transporting of liquids" seems like it comes out of left field, but I guess they're playing off the fact that we mentioned bowls and jars with handles, both of which could store or transport liquids. Just because the author pulled two random examples that happen to both be crafts that can hold liquid, we can't assume that storing/moving liquid was among the most important tasks the people in this society performed.
2% picked this
the token system was as
Trap
Unknown Comparison Too Strong: equally abstract/flexible Nothing in the 2nd paragraph discusses later written languages, so we should be able to get rid of this just because it's clearly out of our Support Window. But even at the end of the 3rd where we talk about the eventual tablet inscriptions being an abstract and flexible written form, we aren't comparing it to later written languages and making the bold claim that this three-sign system was as abstract and as flexible as later languages.
9% picked this

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