The problem of the origin of writing

Андрей Тихомиров

The problem of the origin of writing

Formation of writing

To understand the essence of a particular social phenomenon, it is necessary to find out its origin. This provision is especially important to take into account when it comes to such a complex social phenomenon as writing. The understanding of historical interaction largely depends on the interpretation of its genesis.

That is why the problem of the emergence of writing necessarily includes the question of the origins, origin, formation at the earliest stages of human development.

Although many aspects of the problem of the origin of writing in primitive society remain debatable, various opinions and judgments are expressed on them. This is quite understandable, given the fact that scientists still have a very limited amount of archaeological data relating to the oldest period of human history. Our knowledge of anthropogenesis and the early stages of the development of primitive society is constantly updated and changing in co

The problem of the origin of any social phenomenon, including writing, can be correctly solved only if we take into account the fact that every social phenomenon arises on the basis of a certain social need. When it was necessary to uncover the origins of a qualitatively specific social phenomenon, first of all it is necessary to find out on the basis of which social need this phenomenon is formed. For example, finding out the causes of language, K. Marx and F. Engels wrote: "…language arises only from the need, from the urgent need to communicate with other people" (Marx K., Engels F. Essays, Moscow, 1955, volume 3, p. 29). Here it is also necessary to determine what are the specific social needs that have brought this social phenomenon to life. Without this, neither the essence nor the social functions can be understood. It is also important to take into account that a certain social need is realized in a particular system of people's activities. After all, society is not an independent entity or substance that exists outside the interaction of individual individuals. On the contrary, society, as a specific system, really exists only as a product of the interaction of its constituent people. Therefore, any social need is simultaneously a need of people interacting in society and is realized in this interaction, that is, in their activities.

A complex, but very important question for understanding the problem of the origin of writing is the following: is each specific social need realized from the very begi

While agreeing that it is necessary to clearly identify the specific social needs that gave rise to writing, at the same time, it should not be assumed that the difference in these needs excludes the possibility of a syncretic integrity of art and religion in the primitive era. The possibility of such an undifferentiated unity is determined, in particular, by the fact that specifically artistic and specifically religious activities have not yet branched off from such a syncretic formation of the primitive epoch as ritual actions were.

In the primitive epoch, when mental labor had not yet separated from physical labor, the consciousness of primitive people was directly co

The formation and development of human consciousness, as is known, took place in unity with the development of such a material means of human communication as language. And this applies equally to artistic and religious consciousness. The begi

Religion is not eternal, it is a historical phenomenon, and arose only at a certain stage in the development of human society. The emergence of religion was preceded by a pre-religious period of human development.

Meanwhile, the question of what the pre—religious epoch was, how to interpret it, is far from an idle question and is very important for explaining the conditions and causes of the emergence of not only religion, but also other elements of primitive culture.

For example, the skulls of cave bears were used by Neanderthals in the process of some kind of hunting witchcraft rituals. Apparently, the Neanderthal did not have any formalized and clear system of religious beliefs, but he had the rudiments of religiosity in the form of elementary magical beliefs and witchcraft actions.

As for the rudiments of artistic activity among Neanderthals, the facts indicating its presence have long been known. In the Mousterian layers of the La Ferracy cave (France), pieces of red and yellow mineral paint (ochre) were found, and some of them show traces of scraping with a flint tool or erasing their edges. In the same cave, a stone slab was found with the remains of transverse stripes and spots applied to it with red ochre. In the same place and in the cave of Le Moustier, fragments of animal bones with carved transverse lines were found, forming, as it were, the rudiment of an ornament. Similar or similar finds were made in Europe: Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic.

All these findings indicate that Neanderthals made the first attempts to use the substances of nature surrounding them for pictorial activity. These were the begi