LL-L "Culture" 2010.09.01 (04) [EN]

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*L O W L A N D S - L - 01 September 2010 - Volume 04*
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From: Marcus Buck <list at marcusbuck.org>

Subject: LL-L "Culture" 2010.09.01 (02) [EN]



From: Jonny Meibohm <jonny.meibohm at arcor.de>

The interviewed archeologists postulated a theory that these higher
civilized people may have been in contact with the inhabitants of Northern
Africa, maybe they even were descendants of the old Egypts. This caused a
discussion in our family: if they knew the Egyptian hieroglyphs (since ca.
3,200 BC) why didn't they bring them with them? Or developed anything
similar?


The "descendants of the old Egypts" part is speculation. Archeologists know
very little about the Bell-Beaker culture. They do not even agree whether
this culture is actually a culture. Perhaps it's just the beakers that
spread, a fashion in pottery-making. There are signs that the origin lies in
the Iberian peninsula but that's not a settled fact. Any connection to
Africa or even Egypt is just hypothetical.

But there are examples elsewhere in history where cultures did not adopt
script even though they were in close proximity to cultures that had script.
What's the reason? Well, first we should ask: What's the reason to write
down language? Novels, long-distance communication, parking tickets etc. pp.
are all relatively recent inventions. The most ancient uses for written
language are religious and magical purposes (e.g. the Germanic people used
their runes on weapons in the hope to magically enhance them). Another
important early use of written language is administration. If the king has
many subjects who have to provide food to the court you have to keep records
for your granaries. So, if your religion does not know magical spells and
your culture does not know kings or granaries or any other type of
institution that requires administration, there's no reason to write. Trade
seems like something where records are useful, but if you are a single
tradesman or a small group of traders, the single traders can keep all the
relevant information in their head. Making records could give away your
secrets. Records only become meaningful if you establish a trading house. If
you send out people on behalf that's the point where you need to keep
records.

One of the main apects of civilization is division of labour. In a society
with low division of labour (and the Bell-Beaker people certainly had a low
division of labour) people are either their own bosses or they at least know
their bosses. In a society with higher division of labour, there's more
hierarchy and more and more people don't know their bosses. There are
supervisors inbetween and only the supervisor has direct contact to the
boss. I'd say that's the point where records become necessary. When the
social complexness of society becomes so high that you cannot manage it
without noting down some things.

Marcus Buck



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