Which term describes the cultural practice of reading ancient scripts to track time?

The term that describes the cultural practice of reading ancient scripts to track time is epigraphy. This field of study involves the interpretation of inscriptions and writing from past cultures, allowing researchers to gather insights about historical timelines, cultural practices, and social structures. By analyzing these ancient texts, epigraphers can establish chronologies, understand the context of the written material, and track cultural developments over time.

Seriation, while related to chronology, refers to a method used in archaeology to arrange artifacts in temporal order to understand changes in style or frequency. Reciprocity involves the exchange of goods or services and does not pertain to reading scripts. Carbon dating is a scientific method used to determine the age of organic materials by measuring the decay of carbon isotopes, but it does not involve the reading of ancient scripts. Therefore, epigraphy is the most accurate term in relation to the practice of reading ancient scripts for time tracking.