The creation of the World Wide Web fifteen years ago revolutionised the way that the modern world communicates via the written word. Communication in itself has been around since life form began. The art of writing had a very humble beginning as symbols painted in caves some 30,000 years ago. Writings systems came along later, with the development of the alphabet
Writing Symbols
A symbol represented a concept and were first used by cavemen for recording events. Cave paintings are the oldest known form of symbols and were originally very simple and easily understood. They slowly developed into depicting much more complex information such as accounting and progressed from the walls of cave into carvings in rock and stone.
Pictographs were the next form of symbols to develop and they represented concepts, object and activity by illustration. The Sumerian writing system cuneiform was based on pictographs where symbols were carved by reeds onto wet tablets. The Egyptian hieroglyphs were also a form of pictograph and carried signs which represented objects and sounds.
The Chinese and Japanese were particularly influential in creating symbols which related to ideas, more complex than simple objects. These ideograms used graphical symbols to represent thoughts and more abstract concepts.
The first alphabet was developed by the Phoenicians although the principles of the alphabet had begun with the evolution of cuneiform and hieroglyphics. This alphabet represented sounds. This went on to be developed further by the Greeks in a similar form as known today.
Writing Tools
The early writing implements used were stones, rocks, bones and sharp sticks. These were used to make impressions in the cave wall and for applying natural dye or chalk. Feather quills, lead stylus were all precursors of the pencils and fountains pens know today.
The first form of paper, papyrus, was made from gluing together layers of reed plant and vellum and parchment were made from the skins of animals. However this method of production took a long time and was very expensive. The Italians made a cheaper writing material made from the fibres of old cloth that was therefore accessible to more people.
Writing Methods
From the first recorded cave paintings centuries ago, man has continued his ability to send and receive messages. Telecommunication where signals are transmitted over a distance began with smoke, drums and flags. These primitive methods existed for a long time before the development of electrical telecommunications such as the Morse code and telegrams.
A popular method of writing is now the computer with its added attraction of providing information at the tap of a key via the World Wide Web. Together with mobile phones with their ability for instant texting, these modern systems have revolutionised the art of writing.
Writing has come along way from it’s early scribbles on the wall of a cave. The purpose for writing though, probably remains the same as it was then – to record, pass and share information.
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