History is any event which is recorded. Before that
the only evidence is in the earth and referred to
as the "material" record. It occurred, but since
it isn't written down it isn't "history." As such
history began with the first known records -
the Jiahu script
The 'Jiahu symbols' refer to 16 distinct markings (so far) found on artifacts in Henan, China. These symbols appear on the plastrons (flat hard surfaces, or "belly") of tortoise shells which were carbon dated to 6600 BC. Other symbols are markings of 目 “eye”, 日 “sun; day”.
The debate is to whether or not these earliest symbols represent a true writing system. For me they are the first indications of writing of any kind and so constitute the first use of "pen" to "paper" .: writing! For me it doesn't matter if this was someone's name, or family, or clan, or simply doodles - it constitutes the first use of "pen" to "paper" and as such should be acknowledged as writing in every sense of the word. The debate about whether this form of writing represents a grammatical language is a different question one which does not matter here because this is a written record by someone on something - in other words they left their mark!
6000-4000 BC: Europe's Vinca script.
5260 BC: Dispilio Tablets
4500 BC: Tartarian Tablets
3500 BC: Indus Valley script
2500 BC: Sumerian Cuneiform
