5,000-Year-Old Pay Stub Shows That Ancient Workers Were Paid In Beer

A clay tablet found among the ruins of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Uruk (now in Iraq) could be the world's earliest payslip. The cuneiform writing depicts a human head eating out of a bowl - meaning 'ration' - and a conical container meaning 'beer'. Scratches on each of these are thought to denote the payment given to each worker.