6 Dec 2016
Early Graphic Communications in Cave Paintings
Thanks to Derek for alerting me to this video which explores some of the earliest known forms of graphic communications and symbolism, building on previous posts here on the blog. Here is the TED blurb, and the speaker has a book, The First Signs: Unlocking the Mysteries of the World’s Oldest Symbols (also available on Abebooks UK and Abebooks USA).
Written language, the hallmark of human civilization, didn’t just suddenly appear one day. Thousands of years before the first fully developed writing systems, our ancestors scrawled geometric signs across the walls of the caves they sheltered in. Paleoanthropologist, rock art researcher and TED Senior Fellow Genevieve von Petzinger has studied and codified these ancient markings in caves across Europe. The uniformity of her findings suggest that graphic communication, and the ability to preserve and transmit messages beyond a single moment in time, may be much older than we think.
Related Posts
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Chemists & Health
Some great signs in the category of Chemists, Medical & Health. See more images in the Flickr group being used to set up the Ghost Signs Archive. Here’s a little montage featuring some of the most interesting signs. Thanks again to everyone contributing their images, keep them coming! If you have any interesting ghost signs […]
20 Jun 2009
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Haggai Osewe
I always enjoy a video with some signwriting, so I was chuffed to find this from Kenya, through Charlie, and thought I’d share. Alongside my discoveries in Cambodia it just goes to show that the art and craft is still alive and kicking in much of the world. It would be great to include some […]
17 Mar 2011
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One Show & the Guardian
[Update: better quality video here.] Here’s the piece that was broadcast on the One Show, BBC1, on 12th April 2010. To see it full screen on youtube click here. On the same day, by pure coincidence, the Guardian did a write-up in their G2 section. Read it in full here or here.
25 Apr 2010
