Lecturer 20: The last 13,000 years

The Origins and Evolution of Writing Systems

• Writing systems in Asia look similar to Chinese due to either a common origin or similar invention by people on this half of the world.
• In the Middle East, there were various writing systems, including Egyptian systems and the alphabet system that spread widely.
• The earliest surviving form of writing from the Sumerians, about 7000 years ago, involved making dents/poke marks in wet clay using a wedge-stylus.
• The evolution of cuneiform script from 3000 BCE to its extinction in the early 1st millennium is depicted through various stages.
• The Phoenician alphabet, ancestor of the English alphabet, emerged between 1200-150 BCE in the Mediterranean.
• Writing independently emerged in Sumer, China, Egypt, and Mesoamerica, as proven by rapid diffusion and Diamond's diagram.
• Chinese writing began as a record of religious interpretation, involving a divination process conducted by a priest to consult the Gods.
• The origins of Chinese writing can be traced back to the annotation of cracks on bones or turtle plastrons, leading to the development of pictographs.
• The diffusion of metallurgy and new technologies, such as boat and navigation skills, played a significant role in the expansion of advanced technology.
• Proto-Indo-European expansion from 6000 years ago is traced through linguistic and archaeological evidence, impacting the development of languages.
• The Proto-Indo-Europeans, first discovered by Sir William Jones, spread to India and Europe, leaving traces in the vocabulary of daughter languages.
• The European languages today are descended from Proto-Indo-European, with evidence of their herding lifestyle through shared words like 'sheep'.

The Significance of Domesticated Animals in Human History

• Dogs have to overcome their social instincts to live with humans, while other animals, like herd animals, follow the dominant animal in their herd, including humans.
• Domestication involves animals accepting humans as the dominant animal and assuming humans as the boss.
• Darwin first described the parallel between domestication and evolution by natural selection in the natural world.
• Tame animals can live with humans without hurting them, while domesticated animals have been changed or altered by humans.
• Domesticated animals provide energy and were initially used for food and later for tasks such as plowing.
• Farmers had a narrower diet and were less healthy compared to hunter-gatherers who had a wider variety of substances in their diet.
• Domesticated animals provided sources of material, meat, bone, leather, and other body parts that could be used for various purposes.
• Domestication allowed for the specialization of labor and the rise of standing armies for the first time.
• The ability to smelt metals, such as copper and bronze, emerged from domestication, leading to the creation of wealth and the emergence of rulers, governments, and complex societies.
• The rise of domestication allowed for the development of writing and other technologies, leading to the construction of pyramids and ziggurats.
• Writing evolved somewhat later than other domestication-related innovations and spread widely to regions around the world.
• Domestication only happened in certain parts of the world, allowing for big populations to exist in one place and the rise of specialist roles and ruling elites.