Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, modern-day southern Iraq, during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze ages, and one of the first civilizations in the world along with Ancient Egypt and the Indus Valley. Living along the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, Sumerian farmers were able to grow an abundance of grain and other crops, the surplus of which enabled them to settle in one place. Prehistoric proto-writing dates back before 3000 BC. The earliest texts, from c. 3300 BC, come from the cities of Uruk and Jemdet Nasr; early cuneiform script emerged around 3000 BC.
Port, Switzerland
The banks of the Zihl/Thielle river were inhabited since at least the neolithic. The remains of a neolithic Cortaillod culture stilt house village from the second quarter of the 4th Millennium BC were discovered in the Stüdeli area. The area was resettled often during the following millennia. From Bronze Age settlements a number of artifacts were discovered including swords, spearheads, axes and sickles. A Celtic settlement from the 2nd and 1st centuries BC left behind two helmets, metal vessels and about 120 swords and spearheads. However, most of the swords were broken or bent. One bent iron sword contains an engraving, in Greek letters, of the name Korisios. This is considered the oldest written document in Switzerland. Wooden pilings from the same era indicate that the settlement built a bridge over the river. Scattered tools and weapons from the Roman era, the Early Middle Ages and more recently indicate that the area remained settled.