Tags represent a specialized typology of inscribed clay objects that must be considered separate to ‘Tablets’ due to their function and the circumstances of their conception. Tags were small clay dockets that were attached to containers by string. The earliest tags were provenanced from the Uruk IV period and represented a new stage of literacy and mastery over administrative problems. Sumerian tags typically had few ideographic signs and no numbers. The signs on tags were not representative of the trade goods that the tags would adorn. It is though that signs on the earliest tags represent personal names of the owner or receiver of the goods. Not all of the tags in the collection are from this early period. Many of the later tags contain sentences of writing explaining the goods and their possessors or bore official seals. Every item in the ‘Tag’ category are placed there instead of in the ‘Tablet’ category due to their specific administrative purpose.

@misc{CDLI2026tag,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-10-11]},
	author = {{CDLI contributors}},
	year = {2026},
	month = {oct 11},
	title = {tag - {Artifact} {Types}},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/artifact-types/8},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/artifact-types/8},
}

TY  - ELEC
AU  - CDLI contributors
DA  - 2026/10/11/
PY  - 2026
ID  - temp_id_652586279170
M1  - 2026/10/11/
TI  - tag - Artifact Types
UR  - https://cdli.earth/artifact-types/8
ER  - 

@misc{CDLI2026tag,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-10-11]},
	author = {{CDLI contributors}},
	year = {2026},
	month = {oct 11},
	title = {tag - {Artifact} {Types}},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/artifact-types/8},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/artifact-types/8},
}

TY  - ELEC
AU  - CDLI contributors
DA  - 2026/10/11/
PY  - 2026
ID  - temp_id_070128639444
M1  - 2026/10/11/
TI  - tag - Artifact Types
UR  - https://cdli.earth/artifact-types/8
ER  -