Tally stick
Memory aid device
Summary
A tally stick was an ancient memory aid used to record and document numbers, quantities, and messages. Tally sticks first appear as animal bones carved with notches during the Upper Palaeolithic; a notable example is the Ishango Bone. Historical reference is made by Pliny the Elder about the best wood to use for tallies, and by Marco Polo (1254–1324) who mentions the use of the tally in China. Tallies have been used for numerous purposes such as messaging and scheduling, and especially in financial and legal transactions, to the point of being currency.
Originally created by 138.88.151.170
2/22/2004, 11:19:28 AM
Modified
3/17/2026, 12:51:22 AM
Recent revisions
/* Split tally */ Remove unsourced assertion about illiteracy
/* Kinds of tallies */ link formatting
[[Wikipedia:OABOT|Open access bot]]: doi updated in citation with #oabot.
Move 1 url. [[User:GreenC/WaybackMedic_2.5|Wayback Medic 2.5]] per [[WP:URLREQ#bbc.co.uk misc]]
copyedit lead
/* Single tally */ clarify
/* Kinds of tallies */ copyedit
/* Split tally */ copyedit
/* Single tally */ reign, not circa; correction of starting year
[[MOS:CIRCA]]
/* Split tally */ British English
/* Split tally */ link
/* Split tally */ copyedit
removed [[Category:Writing systems]] using [[WP:HC|HotCat]]
/* Split tally */ lk Stock holder, cite Bunt/Jones/Bedient
/* Possible palaeolithic tally sticks */ Ishango bone: 1950 not 1960
/* Possible palaeolithic tally sticks */ Ishango link
/* Possible palaeolithic tally sticks */ Dolní Věstonice link
Undid revision 1175967053 by [[Special:Contributions/41.190.14.129|41.190.14.129]] ([[User talk:41.190.14.129|talk]])
/* Split tally */
