The oldest known symbols A kind of writing medium made

created for communication. a from the pith of a papyrus plan,

form of rock art, dating to the natively found in river banks
Upper Paleolithic age. and marshy areas.

Clay Tablets Papyrus

Up to 600 B.C. Cave Paintings (3200 B.C.E.) (2900 B.C.E.)

Prehistoric Age
Used to record information
and significant events. Used
for nearly 3000 years in 15
different languages.

Pre-industrial The first pure

alphabets
Age Timeline emerged around
2000 BC in
Alphabets

Ancient Egypt.
(Before the 1700s)
 The Classical Era Timeline
(600 B.C.E. - 476 A.D.)

The earliest prototype of the

A document record of
modern book. It is made of
official business and matters
sheepskin and was invented
of public interest.
in Pergamon.

Acta Diurna Paper Codex

600 B.C.E - 476 A.D.
(59 B.C.E.) (105 A.D.) (300 A.D.)

Classical Era
Tsai Lun, an official at the
court of the Han Dynasty
from Ancient China,
invented paper.
 Primary method of written

communication from the sixth

century until the mid-

nineteenth century

Copper Plate Rolls

Quills
(700 A.D.) ( 600 A.D. - 1250 )
400 A.D up to

1450's

Used by Hindu-Malayan

Empire to write legal

Middle Ages documents.

Used by Chinese during the early

The Middle 1300's and used for todays silk

design patterns as opposed to what

Ages Timeline its purpose from many years ago.

(476 A.D.- 1450 A.D.)

Wooden Type Printing
(1305)
The Early Modern Timeline
(1450 A.D.)

1450's Early Modern

Printing Press
(1450 A.D.)

Made a whole point of possibility in

manufacturing a large sum of books for

the first time. This led for low printing

cost and that it became available to a

wide general group of audiences.