Phenomena: Curiously Krulwich: Who’s the First Person in History Whose Name We Know?

Who’s the First Person in History Whose Name We Know? – Phenomena: Curiously Krulwich

Photograph by Javier Etcheverry, VWPics, Redux

Curiously Krulwich
A Blog by Robert Krulwich

Who’s the First Person in History Whose Name We Know?

Posted Wed, 08/19/2015

• Editor’s Note: This post has updated to clarify a sentence about the gender of the ancient writer.  
• “It’s me!” they’d say, and they’d leave a sign. Leave it on the cave wall. Maybe as a prayer, maybe a graffito, we don’t know.
• This was 30,000 years ago. Writing hadn’t been invented, so they couldn’t chalk their names on the rock. Instead, they’d flatten their hand, blow dust over it, and leave a silhouette like this:

Prototype fac simile of the cave Chauvet—

Pont d’Arc, negative hand painted by blowing pigments. 

Photograph by Laurent CERINO, REA, Redux

And for 30, 40 centuries across Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Australia, this is how cavemen, cavewomen, cave kids, hunters, nomads, farmers, and soldiers left their mark.

Continuar leyendo...