Early civilizations left very different kinds of evidence — undeciphered seals, knotted cords, codices and chronicles. Each group below links to a free digital source.
One of the world's first urban civilizations. Its script has not been deciphered, so our evidence is mainly archaeological: seals, city plans and everyday objects.
Maya inscriptions, Aztec codices and colonial-era accounts written down by and with Indigenous authors.
The Andean peoples kept records in knotted cords called khipus rather than in writing, and one Andean author left an illustrated chronicle of the Inca world.
The earliest Chinese texts, from the Book of Documents and the Book of Odes to the thought of the Zhou period.
This page is deliberately structured, not exhaustive — early African civilizations, Southeast Asia and the prehistoric cultures are natural next additions. Egypt and Mesopotamia are covered in the Near East & Persia section.
Ancient