Stage 1: The Age of Speech & Language
by M ANSARI - 16 Apr 2021 @ 18:55
When you start reading the book, you are bound to be confused. Some of you have just completed matric
and some of you have started studying after a long time. The language is not as simple as the one you use
at home or what you used at school.
This is academic learning so the language is of a higher quality. There will be terminology that you won't
understand. That is ok. There is not need to panic.
When you are reading your book. You need to read it 3 or 4 times before it starts to make sense. Imagine
your brain to be a piece of land and you want to build a road on it.
What would you do?
You would work at clearing out any vegetation, then dig into the soil, then lay out some dirt and then tar.
In the same way, as we learn, grooves form in our brain and eventually learning happens.
This comes with everything in life. The first time is always difficult, then it just gets easier.
Whatever you do, DO NOT GIVE UP!
when Ok, enough of the sermon, let's begin.....
When reading through the first stage, you need to pick out the important information
Here is an example of what I would do if I was summarizing Stage 1:
1. Speech gave people the ability to
a) think and plan
b) hunt and defend themselves more effectively.
c) invent ways of preserving food and keeping warm in winter.
d) learn to cultivate land
People began to express creativity in the form of art - cave paintings
Development of this stage had consequences for both individuals and society: it made possible the
transition froma hunting way of life to an agricultural way of life.
People started to move apart and claim land. They started to farm and needed to keep records on land
ownership and boundaries. As towns grew and people started buying and selling, they needed to record
these transactions.
This prompted the invention of Writing in 3500 BC.
This is just one way to summarize. You can do it your way as long as you get down the important
information.
Once you have read and understood this stage, go to Questions 1 and 3 of your assignment and answer
them.
Please let me know if the summary helped your understanding and if you were able to understand and
answer the questions.
I will upload a graphic orgniser to help you put a summary all 5 stages on one page.
,Why did man start writing?
by M ANSARI - 19 Apr 2021 @ 18:40
In the first stage of human communication, I told you that man started writing to record the land that he
owned and what he grew, what he sold etc.
Now comes the age of writing, but, guess what??
He can't write!!
So where did he start?
Just like a child starts learning to write by first scribbling, then drawing and then writing....so too did man
start by scribbling and then drawing.
His very first drawing were cave painting and these were his first mode of communication.
What purpose did cave paintings serve?
Remember that man was, by nature, a nomad. He and his group or family moved from place to place in
search of food. As they moved through the land, they lived in caves. The cave paintings were his form of
communicating with the people that would come after him.
So what would he say?
He would write about his travels, his ancestors or family, warnings of predators or dangerous animals and
of course, tales of a plague or illness or anything that he felt would help or would warn others of danger.
The new inhabitants of the cave would read the cave painting and take heed or what was said because it
was very helpful to them. These cave painting now help scientist piece together man's history and
development through the eras.
Please read through the textbook and study guide, compiling your notes as i have shown you.
You can also answer any assignment questions pertaining to this section. From what I see it is just Q1 that
comes from this paragraph.
Here are some links if you would like to see cave paintings in South Africa:
https://africanrockart.org/rock-art-gallery/south-africa/
https://www.discoverafrica.com/blog/five-destinations-to-view-rock-paintings-in-south-africa/
Earliest forms of writing
by M ANSARI - 21 Apr 2021 @ 19:06
Before I start with today's tutorial, I want to clarify that communication began even before writing. Cave
paintings were the first form of WRITTEN communication
Before that man spoke to each other. Before speech developed, man communicated via signals. Think of a
baby and how it communicates from the time it is born. It uses laughter, cries, cooing, signs etc. In almost
the same way, man communicated using signs, then speech, then writing.
I hope this brings clarity.
Ok, so today we are discussing Chapter 2 page 6
This story starts with the ancient Egyptians. They started the earliest form of writing called
hieroglyphics https://www.britannica.com/topic/hieroglyph
, and cuneiform
http://earlyworldhistory.blogspot.com/2012/04/cuneiform.html
If you search the references I gave you, you will see that hieroglyphics is drawing of figures like birds and
people and cunieform is more abstract.
Now it was said that the advantage of writing was that it allowed people to record land ownership and
other important information but the problem was that recording information was a bit tedious because the
only medium that they had at that time was clay tablets.
So all recording was done on these heavy clay tablets which was transported by horse and cart.
Have any of you watched movies about Anthony and Cleopatra or Moses? You may have seen
hieroglyphics and clay tablets in these movies. All i remember are those huge muscled men going to arrest
Moses.
If you have the time, watch some documentaries on ancient Egyptians. It is really interesting.
Anyhow, the Egyptians came to the rescue again when they invented papyrus. This is a form of writing
paper made from plants. When I went to Egypt, I visited the papyrus making factory and I went downt the
Nile River. It was awesome!!
So, after papyrus was invented, animal skins and parchment (also made from animal skins) were invented
and the result was that the writing medium became lighter and more portable. Now came the time when
messengers were sent on horseback with these rolls of parchment in their bags and they moved from place
to place relaying messages.
If you have seen any historical movies like Ceasar or Romeo and Juliet etc, you would have seen this.
The Chinese went one better than the Egyptians and they invented paper made from wood pulp which we
still use.
all this meant that media was light, portable and could reach a lot of people. No one had to rely on
memory to record information. they could write it down.
People that did not know how to write hired scribes who would note everything down.
Please read the information in the textbook and make your notes.
by M ANSARI - 16 Apr 2021 @ 18:55
When you start reading the book, you are bound to be confused. Some of you have just completed matric
and some of you have started studying after a long time. The language is not as simple as the one you use
at home or what you used at school.
This is academic learning so the language is of a higher quality. There will be terminology that you won't
understand. That is ok. There is not need to panic.
When you are reading your book. You need to read it 3 or 4 times before it starts to make sense. Imagine
your brain to be a piece of land and you want to build a road on it.
What would you do?
You would work at clearing out any vegetation, then dig into the soil, then lay out some dirt and then tar.
In the same way, as we learn, grooves form in our brain and eventually learning happens.
This comes with everything in life. The first time is always difficult, then it just gets easier.
Whatever you do, DO NOT GIVE UP!
when Ok, enough of the sermon, let's begin.....
When reading through the first stage, you need to pick out the important information
Here is an example of what I would do if I was summarizing Stage 1:
1. Speech gave people the ability to
a) think and plan
b) hunt and defend themselves more effectively.
c) invent ways of preserving food and keeping warm in winter.
d) learn to cultivate land
People began to express creativity in the form of art - cave paintings
Development of this stage had consequences for both individuals and society: it made possible the
transition froma hunting way of life to an agricultural way of life.
People started to move apart and claim land. They started to farm and needed to keep records on land
ownership and boundaries. As towns grew and people started buying and selling, they needed to record
these transactions.
This prompted the invention of Writing in 3500 BC.
This is just one way to summarize. You can do it your way as long as you get down the important
information.
Once you have read and understood this stage, go to Questions 1 and 3 of your assignment and answer
them.
Please let me know if the summary helped your understanding and if you were able to understand and
answer the questions.
I will upload a graphic orgniser to help you put a summary all 5 stages on one page.
,Why did man start writing?
by M ANSARI - 19 Apr 2021 @ 18:40
In the first stage of human communication, I told you that man started writing to record the land that he
owned and what he grew, what he sold etc.
Now comes the age of writing, but, guess what??
He can't write!!
So where did he start?
Just like a child starts learning to write by first scribbling, then drawing and then writing....so too did man
start by scribbling and then drawing.
His very first drawing were cave painting and these were his first mode of communication.
What purpose did cave paintings serve?
Remember that man was, by nature, a nomad. He and his group or family moved from place to place in
search of food. As they moved through the land, they lived in caves. The cave paintings were his form of
communicating with the people that would come after him.
So what would he say?
He would write about his travels, his ancestors or family, warnings of predators or dangerous animals and
of course, tales of a plague or illness or anything that he felt would help or would warn others of danger.
The new inhabitants of the cave would read the cave painting and take heed or what was said because it
was very helpful to them. These cave painting now help scientist piece together man's history and
development through the eras.
Please read through the textbook and study guide, compiling your notes as i have shown you.
You can also answer any assignment questions pertaining to this section. From what I see it is just Q1 that
comes from this paragraph.
Here are some links if you would like to see cave paintings in South Africa:
https://africanrockart.org/rock-art-gallery/south-africa/
https://www.discoverafrica.com/blog/five-destinations-to-view-rock-paintings-in-south-africa/
Earliest forms of writing
by M ANSARI - 21 Apr 2021 @ 19:06
Before I start with today's tutorial, I want to clarify that communication began even before writing. Cave
paintings were the first form of WRITTEN communication
Before that man spoke to each other. Before speech developed, man communicated via signals. Think of a
baby and how it communicates from the time it is born. It uses laughter, cries, cooing, signs etc. In almost
the same way, man communicated using signs, then speech, then writing.
I hope this brings clarity.
Ok, so today we are discussing Chapter 2 page 6
This story starts with the ancient Egyptians. They started the earliest form of writing called
hieroglyphics https://www.britannica.com/topic/hieroglyph
, and cuneiform
http://earlyworldhistory.blogspot.com/2012/04/cuneiform.html
If you search the references I gave you, you will see that hieroglyphics is drawing of figures like birds and
people and cunieform is more abstract.
Now it was said that the advantage of writing was that it allowed people to record land ownership and
other important information but the problem was that recording information was a bit tedious because the
only medium that they had at that time was clay tablets.
So all recording was done on these heavy clay tablets which was transported by horse and cart.
Have any of you watched movies about Anthony and Cleopatra or Moses? You may have seen
hieroglyphics and clay tablets in these movies. All i remember are those huge muscled men going to arrest
Moses.
If you have the time, watch some documentaries on ancient Egyptians. It is really interesting.
Anyhow, the Egyptians came to the rescue again when they invented papyrus. This is a form of writing
paper made from plants. When I went to Egypt, I visited the papyrus making factory and I went downt the
Nile River. It was awesome!!
So, after papyrus was invented, animal skins and parchment (also made from animal skins) were invented
and the result was that the writing medium became lighter and more portable. Now came the time when
messengers were sent on horseback with these rolls of parchment in their bags and they moved from place
to place relaying messages.
If you have seen any historical movies like Ceasar or Romeo and Juliet etc, you would have seen this.
The Chinese went one better than the Egyptians and they invented paper made from wood pulp which we
still use.
all this meant that media was light, portable and could reach a lot of people. No one had to rely on
memory to record information. they could write it down.
People that did not know how to write hired scribes who would note everything down.
Please read the information in the textbook and make your notes.
