Fossil records suggest that 500,000 years ago (at the least) humans’ ancestors had developed the vocal anatomy and neurological control necessary for language. It is theorised that the vocal sounds made by our ancestors became important in evolutionary terms because of their role in the establishment and maintenance of social relationships. These pre-linguistic sounds included singing and ‘duetting’. The loud, long bouts of sounds made by mated pairs of gibbons (the arboreal apes living in the tropical rain forests of south-east Asia) possibly represented ‘songs’ that were the substrate from which human singing ultimately emerged. The use of pre-linguistic sounds to aid communication eventually evolved into the words of language.

This chapter explores the processes of writing with a particular focus on three key developments in the history of language. The first is the development of the alphabet, one of humans’ most significant inventions. As a precursor to this section, I review some of the important changes that began with cave pictures and ended with writing. One precursor is exemplified in the story of the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone, which was important for so many reasons in relation to understanding the development of writing. A comparison is also made with the first known writing of music. The second key development in the chapter is the advent of the printing press, a new technology that revolutionised access to written language. And the third key development is the point at which digital text became a reality in many millions of people's lives.

Until recently it was theorised that the Aurinacian deposits (from the Aurignac area in France) of engraved and painted materials, which were composed in the period between 25,000 BC and 10,000 BC in the late Old Stone Age, were the oldest examples of art. These beginnings coincided with the time that humans became the dominant hominid species. The larger brain size that humans had compared to other animals was linked to dominance of their habitat. Big brains may also have been a causal factor in the emergence of language. But in 2014 a new discovery was made that upturned the idea that cave paintings started in Europe, something that had puzzled scientists in view of the known spread of humans out of Africa.