History of Graphic Communication Flashcards
Oral Tradition
No formal language - verbal
First recorded message
a Petroglyph - Animals etched into wall
Found in 1940 Lascu, France
From 20-30,000 BC
Shows they were Hunter Gathers, used all of the animal, and how they survived
Pictograph
a pictorial symbol for a word or phrase
Used as the earliest known form of writing
Examples found in Egypt and Mesopotamia from before 3000 BC
Petroglyphs
image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, form of rock art
Scribal Tradition
Means of recording the verbal communication
Sumerians
- First evidence of GC being used in an organized manner - - First group to become a society
- Leader
- Rules
- Needed to share rules with everyone
- Used clay tablets (substrate)
- Would scrawl an image into with reeds
- People moved around and mingled in Egypt
Cuneiform
Language that the Sumerians came up with to record. Had an alphabet
Egypt
- Hired Scribes
- Became more powerful than Sumerians
- Recorded history
Scribes
- Formal profession
- By hand
- Expensive
- Lasted 6000 years
- Used papyrus paper instead of clay for easier transport
- Ink made from minerals
What did the Sumerians and the Egyptians both use scribes for ?
- Record trade
- Important to make society work
- facilitated economic development
- Enabling tool was GC
Phoenicians
- Came up with first phonetic alphabet
- Influences by Egypt
- Closer to spoken language
- Greek and Romans followed after
Parchment Paper
Made from animal skins in 200 AD
Cai Lun
- Invented the first “press” in 100-200 AD
- used coated wooden blocks and pressed them into paper
- Chinese
Screw Press
- Koreans invented
- More efficient
- Similar to grape press
Earliest Book Printed
The Diamond Sutra in 400-500 AD in China