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Early Man

wp57595f23_1b.jpg An early example of the understanding of the power of communication is evident in the cave paintings at Lascaux and numerous other sites around the world. Some of these are over 20,000 years old and are the earliest evidence of human beings recording their presence, their actions, and their environment.

 

Perhaps the paintings were executed as the record of a kill, showing how many hunters there were, what the animal was, where they made the kill and any casualties amongst them. They may have been messages for other visitors who might inhabit the same spot, recording the possibilities for hunting in the area, or they might have warned of any danger from other tribes.

 

wpbde3a598_1b.jpg Bearing in mind that these images were produced in caves lit only by fires, and after the event, it shows an extraordinary ability to recall and reproduce a scene on a two-dimensional surface – and for a purpose! This seems to indicate that humans were capable, even then, of retrospective thought and contemplation and were aware that they could represent symbolic information by using drawn and written symbols and that others understood the nature of the message.

 

The communication of information, ideas, or knowledge, to another must surely be the biggest driving force for the development of drawing, and of writing systems.