5,000-year-old bureaucracy: Over 7,000 prehistoric seal impressions uncovered in western Iran

In the journal Antiquity, Dr. Shokouh Khosravi published preliminary findings of the largest known corpus of prehistoric seal impressions in the entire ancient world. The corpus, made up of over 7,000 seal impressions, more than 200 clay figurines, clay tokens, and two cylinder seals, dates back to 5,000 years ago and speaks to the fact that Tapeh Tyalineh was likely an important center involved in extensive commercial exchange, necessitating a large administrative system that likely left behind these seals.