5,000 year old payslip suggests workers were paid in beer

Workers in an ancient society were compensated with beer, according to the markings on a stone tablet dated to around 5,000 years ago.

The inscribed artifact has been traced to the area known as Uruk in Mesopotamia which would have been situated in current-day Iraq.

It has been identified as a type of paystub, with writer Alison George explaining in a piece for New Scientist that the marks indicate "a human head eating from a bowl, meaning 'ration,' and a conical vessel, meaning 'beer.'"

She also adds that there are 'scratches recording the amount of beer for a particular worker.'

As a description by the British Museum which holds the tablet points out: "Beer was the most popular drink in Mesopotamia for men, women and children alike."

In addition to perhaps being more flavorful and safe compared to water, the beverage was also a filling substitute for food.

The inscription is presented in an early picture-based writing system called cuneiform.