Media and Information Literacy: The Prehistoric Age : (1500 BC

Prehistory is the period of human activity between the use of the first stone tools ~3.3 million years ago and the invention of writing systems, the earliest of which appeared ~5300 years ago.Technology that predates recorded history. History is the study of the past using written records; it is also the record itself. Anything prior to the first written accounts of history is prehistoric (meaning “before history”), including earlier technologies. About 2.5 million years before writing was developed, technology began with the earliest hominids who used stone tools, which they may have used to start fires, hunt, cut food, and bury their dead.

Media through the ages

The 20^th century was witness to the birth of what is arguably the most popular device in the history of mankind: the television. TV is a communications technology that has revolutionised the delivery of information, entertainment and artistic expression to the masses. More recently, we have all witnessed (and participated in) the birth of the Internet, a technology whose potential makes TV pale into insignificance in comparison (although, it seems, TV isn’t leaving us anytime soon). These are fast-paced and momentous times we live in. I thought now would be a good opportunity to take a journey back through the ages, and to explore the forms of (and devices for) media and communication throughout human history.

Our journey begins in prehistoric times, (arguably) before man even existed in the exact modern anatomical form that all humans exhibit today. It is believed that modern homo sapiens emerged as a distinct genetic species approximately 200,000 years ago, and it is therefore no coincidence that my search for the oldest known evidence of meaningful human communication also brought me to examine this time period. Evidence suggests that at around this time, humans began to transmit and record information in rock carvings. These are also considered the oldest form of human artistic expression on the planet.

From that time onwards, it’s been an ever-accelerating roller-coaster ride of progress, from prehistoric forms of media such as cave painting and sculpture, through to key discoveries such as writing and paper in the ancient world, and reaching an explosion of information generation and distribution in the Renaissance, with the invention of the printing press in 1450AD. Finally, the modern era of the past two centuries has accelerated the pace to dizzying levels, beginning with the invention of the photographand the invention of the telegraph in the early 19^th century, and culminating (thus far) with mobile phonesand the Internet at the end of the 20^th century.

List of communication milestones

I’ve done some research in this area, and I’ve compiled a list of what I believe are the most significant forms of communication or devices for communication throughout human history. You can see my list in the table below. I’ve also applied some categorisation to each item in the list, and I’ll discuss that categorisation shortly.

Prehistoric (200,000 BC - 4,000 BC)