HISTORY OF COMMUNICATION (PREHISTORY-CONTEMPORARY AGE) - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The history of communication reflects one of the most important processes that occurred in the history of humanity. This process has two main characteristics that trace a before and after in human exchanges: the development of language and the use of symbols in communication.

The history of communication is said to begin with the creation of language. Language is considered as a unique ability of the human race and the characteristic responsible for making the development of societies possible. This is because, with language, no matter how complex the message is, its transmission is possible.

However, the creation of language was preceded by artistic communication. All the forms of communication that the human race has used throughout history have made possible the current organization of societies and the creation of economic and political systems.

Therefore, Communication is the fundamental reason why the human race has been able to reach the level of development that it has today.

Prehistory

Origins of communication

By essence, humans have always been grouped into collectives. The origin of communication is a consequence of the human need to live in community. The first human groups were nomadic and did not have speech systems, as languages ​​had not even begun to develop.

The communication is said to have originated around 300,000 BC. By that time, most likely early humans communicated with each other using onomatopoeic sounds. Words did not exist; noises were used to communicate feelings of danger, joy, the presence of water, and so on.

Not all early humans were capable of simple words, but those who could, tended to reproduce more with humans of the opposite sex, impressing them with their capabilities. Those unable to communicate were left behind in history and disappeared.

Being able to speak made it possible for early humans to share techniques on how to create better tools and cooperate with each other. These characteristics were the main reasons why these humans were more successful than the rest. These were the forerunners of the present human race.

The culture of speech

Before the development of agriculture, around the year 10 000 before a. C., nomadic humans began to use words in their daily life to communicate with each other.

This gave birth to what can be referred to as a culture of speech, in which words were the main means of communication between members of primitive societies.

This cultural development of speech as a fundamental tool of communication occurred since 180,000 BC. Until the creation of the first manuscripts, in the year 3500 a. During this period, physical gestures and speech were the only forms of communication that the human race had.

However, humans also developed systems of dance and rock art that served to represent events that occurred in societies. These representations also served as communicational symbols. Cave painting was developed around 30,000 BC. C.

Use of petroglyphs, pictograms and ideograms

After painting was developed, it took a few millennia for humans to come up with a new method of communication other than speech. The first method that was developed was the petroglyphs, which were carvings that were made in the stones of caves and in places considered important.

The first petroglyphs were created about 20,000 years after the creation of cave art. The petroglyphs were used to capture a specific event through artistic representation.

On the other hand, the development of pictograms came from the year 9000 BC. C., only a thousand years after the appearance of the first petroglyphs.

Pictograms are considered the first form of writing, because through these stories of events were told. Around the year 5000 a. C., a great quantity of human groups already used to use the petroglyphs.

Later, the pictograms evolved into ideograms. The symbols in the ideograms represented a particular idea, which resembled the drawing. For example, the drawing of a star represented the sky.

Old age

Invention of cuneiform writing

Cuneiform writing was the first formal writing system. This was developed in Mesopotamia, a region considered one of the cradles of human civilization.

This type of writing emerged in the year 3500 BC. C. and it was one of the most important cultural contributions of the Mesopotamian civilization to the world.

To develop writings, a special implement was used that was settled in clay, with which the writer created forms that represented words. These first words were no more than simple representations, but later cuneiform writing developed a more complex word system, similar to modern language.

All the great Mesopotamian civilizations used this script until they adapted to the alphabetic system, around 100 BC. C.

Development of hieroglyphs

The ancient Egyptians developed a writing system around the same period in which the Mesopotamians created the cuneiform script. In Egypt drawings, called hieroglyphs, were used to represent words or things through them.

This system was not at all similar to that of Mesopotamia. However, it had certain conceptual elements very similar to the latter. For example, both systems used symbols to create words.

Hieroglyphs of Egypt

The structural differences between the two languages ​​make it highly unlikely that there was any relationship between Mesopotamia and Egypt. They were developed in similar time periods, but independently.

The hieroglyphic system consisted of a series of pictures representing syllables. Putting them together created words. From the hieroglyphs it was possible to know how to pronounce certain words, since each one represented a consonant and a vowel.

Development of other writing systems

Chinese writing (from which other languages ​​such as Japanese and Korean evolved) was developed independently, which makes it present a style quite different from both the cuneiform and the Phoenician alphabet.

Writing systems were also developed in pre-Columbian America. It is thought that the only complex language system that existed on the American continent before the arrival of the settlers was Maya. However, the ancient Olmec culture also had systems that may even be ancestors of the Mayans.

These systems of American aboriginal cultures developed independently of Europeans and Asians. For this very reason, they have unique and completely different characteristics.

Creation of the alphabet

The creators of the first sound-based alphabet were the Phoenicians. The Phoenician civilization developed the first alphabet around the 11th century BC, and it was spread throughout the Mediterranean by merchants from the region.

In turn, this language had three variants, which were very similar but presented certain changes adapted to the region to which they belonged. This alphabet was used for almost 1000 years, until 100 BC. C.

From this alphabet the Greek alphabet was created, which in turn is considered the precursor of all the alphabets used today. Therefore, the contribution of the Phoenicians is the predecessor of the modern alphabet and of many of today's languages.

Creation of the postal system

The postal system was an invention of the great empires of antiquity to be able to communicate messages over great distances.

This was particularly useful for the emperors, as they had to send orders to distant areas constantly. While the Egyptians created a rudimentary postal system, the forerunners of this system are the Chinese.

Although China was one of the first countries to organize systems of this kind, the Persian Empire created the first official mail system in 550 BC. Above all, the Chinese used the system to send messages between government entities. In Persia it was also used for civil purposes.

Middle Ages

First printing systems

Although Johannes Gutenberg is usually mentioned as the forerunner of the modern press, some Chinese monks were already using a similar method around 800 AD.

The Chinese system was not as advanced as Gutenberg's. They used inscribed wooden blocks, which were dipped in ink and put on paper so that the symbols were marked on top of it.

This printing method was also used in other Asian countries, such as Japan and Korea; it was used mostly for the creation of religious texts. Mainly, this print was used in Buddhist and Taoist texts of the time.

Modern age

Creation of the Gutenberg press

Johannes Gutenberg was a Swedish inventor who first developed the concept of a mobile printer, which was made of metal.

Gutenberg's invention was far more effective than any other printing invention created up to that time. In fact, Gutenberg's system was so automated that it was developed using machinery systems to extract wine.

Gutenberg printing house

The automation of the system meant that it was not necessary to print manually, which helped to massify the printing of newspapers and spread human communication more effectively throughout the world.

Contemporary age

Beginning of the

Joseph Niepce is considered the inventor of photography after using the first camera to create an image in 1826. This invention was the first step of humanity for the massification of communication.

In 1854 Antonio Meucci created the first telephone in the history of mankind. In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell was the first to patent this discovery.

In 1886 Graham Bell devised a method to improve photographic systems that were still rudimentary at the time. The ability to communicate by phone is also one of humanity's greatest advances in communication.

In 1877 Thomas Edison was responsible for creating the first camera capable of recording moving images. This event is the last great precursor of the massification of communication before the popularization of radio and cinema.

The emergence of radio occurred in the second decade of the 20th century, when a radio signal was transmitted for the first time and the sale of receivers to listen to radio began to become widespread throughout the world.

In the 1950s, when television became widespread, a communication revolution was launched that has not stopped growing to this day. Little by little, news and entertainment programs became part of the daily life of families worldwide.

Modern technology

Today, humanity is going through a historical stage of communication called the “Internet Age”. It is considered that this stage began with the creation of the World Wide Web, the system that made it capable of accessing any website as long as you have access to a device connected to this network.

The last decade of the 20th century presented a great deal of change for the human race. Cell phones became popular, allowing people to communicate no matter where they were.

In the mid-90s, communication through the Internet became massively widespread incredibly quickly. The development of chat systems and online forums quickly became popular. This was projected in the growth of platforms like AOL and MSN Messenger.

Satellite technology and the creation of the Internet are undoubtedly the most important modern influences on the development of communication.

Furthermore, in the last two decades the development of smartphones and the emergence of social networks have mainly characterized the communicational growth of humanity.

Mobile messaging applications have replaced old web messaging technologies. Furthermore, easy (inexpensive) access to communication technology has allowed almost all human beings to have the ability to communicate with people no matter where they are in the world.

References

1. History of Communication, History World Net, (nd). Taken from historyworld.net
2. Hyerogliphic Writing, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
3. Phoenician Alphabet, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
4. Communication: History and Forms, Non-attributed - University of Minnesota, 2012. Taken from umn.edu
5. A Timeline of Human Communications, McDaniel, (nd). Taken from mcdaniel.edu
6. Who Invented Printing Press ?, E. Palermo, 2014. Taken from livescience.com
7. History of Newspapers, M. Stephens, (nd). Taken from nyu.edu
8. Alexander Graham Bell, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
9. Language, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
10. Cuneiform Writing, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 2018. Taken from ancient.eu
11. Postal System, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com