Most people today type and write like it is going out of style, while rarely thinking about the first forms of writing. Okay, now that I think about it, we live in a digital world nowadays so the new generation is all about texting while using abbreviations, acronyms, etc. The old-fashioned forms of writing of the past would be extremely quaint for a lot of kids coming up today. Either way, I've always hated the expression "cavemen can't write."

Anyway, in my opinion, those cave people started humanoid literature by using pictograms/pictographs. It is basically like "picture words," if you will. There were pictures painted on the walls of caves 25,000+ years ago or thereabouts. Many folks consider this to be the precursor to writing. It is still a form of communication and it does try to convey a message one way or another, so I deem it as the first. Simple hand gestures, moans, grunts and basic sign language probably fell within the same time period. In fact, I still rely on primitive communications to this day, at times; ha!

Then along came Cuneiform, which is considered by many to be the first written script and it was developed by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia. Actually, it started as pictographs but over time the characters became smaller and less were required. Cuneiform ended up being a bunch of wedge-shaped impressions on clay tablets, which only sounds slightly more sophisticated than the cave paintings, but it was an advancement nonetheless.

Next in line was the Egyptian hieroglyphics. This stuff is totally cool and it's a form of picture writing that includes signs for words, sounds, and so on. Even some of my extraterrestrial homeboys use this on their flying saucers, so it is not as elementary as one may think. In fact, I have an Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic alphabet decoder in my room, somewhere.

Well, I just realized that if I were to cover the entire history of writing, that this post would become enormous - and we don't want that, now do we? LOL! At any caveman rate, I'll stop here.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons - This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

---End of Post "First Forms of Writing"