FUNCTIONS AND MESSAGES OF TOKENS & COUNTERS, SEALS, SEALINGS & RELIEFS OF ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA AS REPRESENTATIONS OF NON - LINGUISTIC COMMUNICATION - A SURVEY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhgyan.v1.i1.2023.8Keywords:
Tokens, Counters, Seals, Sealings, Reliefs, Ancient Mesopotamia, Non-Linguistic Communication, Function MessageAbstract [English]
There are many ways to communicate non-verbally. Artefacts like tokens/counters, bullae, seals, sealings, figurative representations, reliefs, etc., are as many parts and symbols of non-verbal communication as art, laughter, drumbeats, smoke signals, facial expressions, body postures, appearance, etc. It is a fact that semantic artefacts – objects carrying a meaning – contain no single information since the amount of information that can be obtained from them increases significantly with time. For example, an ear of wheat with a herringbone pattern that stood for cereal communicates information on economy, administration, society, and cognition. This paper identifies and analyses the multi-faceted information communicated by a collection of tokens and counters, seals, sealings and reliefs of Ancient Mesopotamia and surveys them as representations of non-linguistic communication. The functions and messages conveyed by these artefacts are analysed considering their aspects of enumeration, recording, suggestion and symbol for imparting, recording, revealing, demonstrating, or bestowing facts and information in Ancient Mesopotamia.
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