History of Graphic Design 1-6 topics

What is the earliest known visual communication shown in the presentation?

Pictographs and symbols in the Lascaux caves in southern France.

When were the Lascaux cave pictographs and symbols made?

Approximately 15,000–10,000 BC.

What is cuneiform? When did cuneiform appear?

The earliest system of actual writing, used in a number of languages. Around 3000 BC.

How did cuneiform characters develop and in which direction was it written?

They evolved from pictograms that were rotated, abstracted into symbols, and arranged in horizontal rows. Cuneiform was written from left to right.

What is the Cyrus Cylinder?

An ancient artifact identified by name in the presentation. The slide does not give further details about it.

What is the Blau Monument known for?

It is described as the oldest artifact known to combine words and pictures; early Sumerian artisans combined writing with relief images.

What are Egyptian hieroglyphics, and when were they used in the slide timeline?

An Egyptian writing system combining writing with relief carving, using rebus and phonetic characters; the slide dates it to 2613–2160 BC.

What is the Rosetta Stone associated with?

Cracking the code of the ancient Egyptians.

What influenced the Greek alphabet, and what did the Greeks add?

The Greek alphabet was likely borrowed from the Phoenicians; the Greeks added vowels.

How was early Greek writing read?

It was written in straight rows, alternating direction: one row left to right, the next right to left.