Jun 29 2009
Paper - Part I
Ever wonder where paper comes from? Paper is such a versatile product that is used in so many things, that I wonder what we would do without paper. Well, here is a quick history on paper and how it has evolved over the years. Now, in a short posting, we cannot cover all aspects of paper, so we will just give some highlights.
Paper is essential to writing; however, writing came many years earlier than paper. What did they write on in those ancient times? Early on in the human race, our primitive ancestors wrote, painted and carved at first on walls in caves, and then rocks and stones, and then they migrated to writing and carving on sticks, wood, shells, bones, and of course stones.
The Clay Tablet was one of the earliest forms of a medium that civilizations wrote on. The major disadvantage to the Clay Tablet was that if it got wet, it would fall apart, get slimy, and the writings would not be legible. Also, if a fire broke out, the clay would be baked in the heat of the fire (this has preserved the tablet and any of its writings, giving the archeologist a specimen to study and decipher the ancient writings.
Papyrus was created by the Egyptians when they took the slender leaves of the papyrus plant and laid them side by side, and then layered another set of leaves, going the opposite direction. This early form of writing medium was the first type of ‘paper’ that was brought into existence. The natural glues within the plant bonded the leaves together, the Egyptians that worked with the Papyrus to make it smooth. They used brushes and ink to write on it.
We shall continue or history lesson on ‘paper’ beginnings in another post.
