Almost every day we use CD-ROMs, flash drives and paper, but we don’t even imagine that these storage media have their own history. Moreover, their appearance was preceded by other ways of storing and transmitting messages, samples of which can now be found, perhaps, only in museums. Ancient storage media improved in the process of developing the skills of people. Each new look was somewhat more convenient and effective than the previous one. Today, the media of reed stalks, ancient parchments or clay tablets tell scientists a lot about life in the distant past. Some of them are significantly ahead of modern analogues in the duration of information storage.
In the twilight of the caves
The first information carriers known to scientists are wall pictures. They are found in caves in different parts of the world. Initially, dye formulations were probably used. Over time, the fragility of such drawings was noticed, and sharp stones began to be used as tools. They scratched petroglyphs on the walls (the name is derived from the Greek words "stone" and "carving"). The main plots of cave paintings are hunting, animals, domestic scenes. Today, the purpose of such drawings remains unclear. Versions are being expressed that they were religious in nature or created to decorate the home, and perhaps were a way to convey information to fellow tribesmen.
The most ancient cave paintings have a very long history. Archaeologists suggest that they were created over forty thousand years ago.
Clay
The evolution of information carriers went along the path of searching for materials that are convenient to use and capable of simultaneously storing a message for as long as possible. Petroglyphs and cave paintings were replaced by clay tablets. Their occurrence is associated with the emergence of writing in Egypt and Mesopotamia. What were these storage media? The table consisted of a board covered with a thin layer of clay. To draw the characters used stone or wooden sticks. They wrote on raw clay, then dried the plate. You could proceed with it in one of two ways: either leave it and, if necessary, erase the inscription by wetting it with water, or bake it. In the latter case, information was stored for a long period, until the destruction of the medium. The remains of such tablets archaeologists discover to this day. These are very valuable findings that can tell a lot about how our ancestors lived.
There are clay tablets with cuneiform writing, which first appeared on the territory of Ancient Sumer in the third millennium BC. Many peoples used this type of information medium until paper appeared.
Wax
In ancient Rome, wax tablets were in use. They were made of boxwood, beech or bone and had a special depression for paraffin. Wax was written using a stylus, a pointed metal stick. Such plates could easily be reused: signs were easily erased. Unfortunately, the temperature conditions did not allow most of the recordings to be preserved on such media. However, some samples have survived to this day. One of them is a polyptych (several wax tablets affixed with leather straps), containing the Novgorod code, found on the territory of this ancient Russian city.
Reed stalk carrier
All kinds of tablets, as well as wooden books, had one significant drawback - they weighed a lot. It is not surprising, therefore, that the further development of methods for storing and transmitting information went the way of finding an easier basis. The solution was invented by the Egyptians. In the second half of the third millennium BC, they came up with a medium from reed stalks. It was a papyrus, which was made from the same plant. At that time, this sedge relative was common in the Nile Delta. Today, wild species of papyrus are almost gone.
Technology
A data carrier from reed stalks was created in several stages. First, the plant was cleaned of bark, and its core was cut into thin strips. Then, on a flat surface, they were laid out in a dense layer. After that, part of the strips were placed on top of the laid out at a right angle. They covered everything with a flat stone and after some time they left it in the sun. When the resulting sheet became sufficiently dry, it was beaten with a hammer and smoothed.
Papyri often connected together, glued. It turned out pretty long ribbons, which were stored in the form of scrolls. The first papyrus was called "protocolon." The front side of the scroll was the one where the fibers went horizontally.
Reusable
Papyrus, a photo of which can be seen on any site dedicated to the history of Egypt, has often been used more than once. When the information contained on the front side became irrelevant or simply unnecessary, records filled the turnover. Often there were various literary works. Sometimes, the obsolete text on the front side was washed away.
Papyrus in ancient Egypt posted sacred texts and notes related to everyday household chores. A carrier of information from reed stalks, apparently, appeared here simultaneously with the birth of writing, in the pre-dynastic era. Often on the found sheets of scrolls you can find images.
Finds
Papyrus is not the most reliable keeper of information. They can be preserved unchanged only under certain conditions, therefore, they can be seen in museums placed in closed glass cases, inside which the necessary temperature and humidity are maintained. Papyrus was used throughout Greece and Rome, but only specimens stored in Egypt have survived to this day: the climate of this country has a less destructive effect on the fragile material of the carrier.
Thanks to the special conditions in the Nile Valley, archaeologists and historians were able to get acquainted with the "Athenian Politics" of Aristotle, the Latin poem "Alcestida of Barcelona", some of the works of Menander and Philodemus of Gadar. Scrolls with these samples of ancient literature were discovered in Egypt.
End of an era
The evolution that the ancient media took place did not stand still. Papyri was actively used in the East until the VIII century AD. However, in Europe already in the early Middle Ages they were replaced by a carrier of information from the skin of animals. This was facilitated by both the short shelf life of the papyrus (it was stored no more than 200 years) and the reduction in the number of plants in Egypt.
Animal skin as a keeper of information
Parchment appeared in the 5th century. BC e. in Persia. From there, he came to Ancient Greece, where he began to be quite actively used from the II century BC. It was at this time that Egypt introduced a ban on the export of papyrus outside the country. Such a decision was to lead to the exaltation of the Library of Alexandria compared with the one located in the city of Pergamum in Asia Minor. Then the Greeks remembered the invention of the Persians, improved the technology and began to use new material. In this regard, the carrier of information from the skin of animals and received the name "parchment". In Greece, sheep and goat skins processed in a special way were used for its manufacture.
Paper era
Parchment was used as the main writing material until the birth of typography. And then for some time, animal skins were used in parallel with paper. However, the complexity of the production of parchment prompted to gradually abandon it in favor of new media.
Paper, according to Chinese annals, was invented at the beginning of the second century AD by Tsai Lunem. Archaeological excavations, however, testify to the earlier origin of this material (approximately the 2nd century BC). Cai Lun , according to modern ideas, improved technology, made paper cheaper and more durable. The manufacturing process of writing material was then finalized: glue, starch and dyes began to be added to the main raw materials (rags, ash, hemp). In general, however, the composition of modern paper differs little from the original.
In the XI-XII centuries, a new medium came to Europe and supplanted parchment. With the development of typography, paper production began to increase dramatically. The further transformation of this information carrier to a greater extent was associated with the improvement of production methods, a gradual transition from manual manufacturing to mechanized.
Today, paper is slowly being superseded by digital and electronic counterparts. The main characteristic of information carriers in our time is the amount of memory. Paper is gradually losing its significance, although it is still produced in huge quantities. Parchment and papyrus, photos of which are easy to find on the Internet, have become a thing of the past, although the former is used today by artists. The history of information carriers illustrates the desire of mankind for progress, as well as the temporality of even the most familiar attributes of life.