one can always use a pen-knife to cut a feather*... (and for temporary notes, there were wax tablets; one might imagine transcribing longer-lived stuff off of

one can always use a pen-knife to cut a feather*... (and for temporary notes, there were wax tablets; one might imagine transcribing longer-lived stuff off of wax with feather pens each evening to form a whole note taking system) * back when egg production was colocated with egg consumption, these were more readily available