Ancient Communication Technology

Did you know that people first used road signs more than 2,000 years ago? Did you know that Ancient Rome had its own postal service? Did you know that Egyptian writers used flakes of limestone for scrap paper? Pens, storytelling, alphabets—communication technology is as old as human society itself. The first humans on Earth used simple communication tools. They painted on cave walls with twigs and animal fur. They carved simple pictures into bones and rocks. Over the centuries, ancient peoples improved the ways they communicated. People in the ancient Middle East kept records on clay tablets. The ancient Chinese made paper from wood pulp. The ancient Greeks and ancient Mayans thought of different ways to design books. So what kinds of tools and techniques did ancient people use? How did writing systems improve over time? And how did ancient communication set the stage for our own modern communication technology? Learn more in Ancient Communication Technology.