On: Game Theory and Settling the Debts of the Deceased in Ancient Times

[Terr_]

That reminds me of the hydraulic MONIAC computer [0]. ("Monetary National Income Analogue Computer")

Or perhaps the ancient greek"hydraulic telegraph" [0], which (sadly) was not a pipe-based communication system, but two independent pre-calibrated water-clocks. The signals were sent by flaming torch, but by measuring the duration of the light more information could be sent.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_Machine

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_telegraph

[FredPret → Terr_]

There's a book with lots more of this sort of thing called The Information by James Gleick