From cuneiform to computer keystrokes. Thus when digital technologies of reading and writing arose, soon thereafter people became intensely reflective about what had preceded them: books, paper, pens ...

Schoolchild’s homework in Greek on a wax tablet, Egypt, 2nd century AD (copyright the British Library) LONDON — A 2,000-year-old wax tablet bears inscriptions of the Greek homework of an Egyptian ...

Current evidence suggests that humans had the capacity for spoken language at least 130,000 years ago. Ever the ...

Stone Age artifacts discovered in a German cave could push back the origins of writing by 30,000 years. willbrasil - stock.adobe.com The origins of writing aren’t set in stone. The ancient cave ...

Around 40,000 years ago, Paleolithic people inscribed bone with symbols that appear to be part of some sort of writing system ...

When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. By Martin Puchner THE GREATEST INVENTION A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts By Silvia ...

Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work covers anything from archaeology and the environment to technology and culture. Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work ...

I remember the first time I attended a linguistics lecture as an undergraduate in Argentina. The lecturer asked a simple ...

Corrections & clarifications: An earlier version of this story contained inaccurate or incomplete facts about the history of language. Language is an essential part of human communication, allowing ...