The Evolution of Traditional to New Media

Prehistoric Age (4.5 million years ago)

• Early hominids used stone tools for hunting and gathering
• Development of human behavior and brain led to conceptualization, abstract thought, communication, reflection, and problem-solving
• Fire was discovered, paper was developed from plants, and weapons were built
• Stone tools and metals were used for daily activities like hunting and gathering
• Crude stone tools created rock art, including petroglyphs and pictographs, considered the earliest forms of traditional media

Early Forms of Media

• Cave paintings (parietal art) were painted drawings on cave walls or ceilings (13,000 BC)
• Clay tablets with cuneiform characters were used to form early archives, the root of first libraries (2400 BC)
• Papyrus was used as a writing surface, made from the pith of the papyrus plant (2500 BC)

Early Publications

• Acta Diurna, a daily publication, emerged in 131 BC during the Roman Republic, initially focused on legal proceedings and trial outcomes
• Dibao, a type of publication, was issued by central and local governments in imperial China, containing official announcements and news (2nd Century)

Early Printing Techniques

• Codex, folding books, were created by the preColumbian Maya civilization, written in Maya hieroglyphic script on Mesoamerican bark cloth (5th Century)
• Woodblock printing originated in ancient China, initially used for printing on textiles, and remained the most common method of printing books and texts in East Asia until the 19th century (220 AD)