JeremyBarrick

Before paper
"Once people start to keep written records of trade, agriculture, and major events, they need a constant supply of material to write on. They use natural materials, such as wood, bamboo, or bone, but these are difficult to write on and and are not practical. The ancient Egyptians found that they could make an excellent material for their documents from the papyrus plant. The knowledge of how to make papyrus sheets spread all over the ancient Mediterranean world. When the supply of papyrus began to run out, people looked for a substitute. The result was parchment, which was made from animal skins. Until paper reached the West in the Middle Ages, parchment was the most important writing material." (Brookfield. BOOK)
It is so hard to imagine the days before paper, the type made from trees. Wood, bamboo, and bone? The complications that must have caused. From reading this, I now have a better understanding of how strong the written word is. Society had something to say, as they strongly prepared to have it all documented any way they could. For all those animal activists out there, at least they ate the animals after they skinned their hides for the use of paper.