@mousefriend @robinhood yeah, economist types really love severely overstating how long money has existed
Sure, there's a long history of items that were probably used as some kind of voucher or token. But I don't think there's any evidence of them being used in any way that would resemble a currency.
Also the idea of bartering as a precursor to money isn't real either. Zero evidence for it, just something some guy made up. The closest you get is the general concept of owing someone a favor.