A Post-Structural Analysis of Writing's Origin, As Material Production Within A Visual Context.

Since October 1991, I have been working on a deconstruction/ reconstruction of the original form of image writing used, during pre-Columbian times, by the Aboriginal Peoples of North America. Now, my initial research is available for viewing by anyone interested.

The following composite of image and text that you are about to visit is exactly as it presents itself: it is an exploration of the very origin of writing.

Writing began a minimum of tens of thousands of years ago, and possibly over 100 thousand years ago: an unthinkably long time before our present age of six-second sound bites. Yet, the earliest examples of writing are still understandable today, by anyone...because writing's original form is not based upon a spoken language that is now lost to us in the far reaches of time.

Writing does not have a phonetically-based origin; and writing, in its initial complexity as non-metrical assemblage, may even pre-date the developmental complexity of human speech. It is quite possible that we, as a species, were able to develop the complex articulations of modern speech patterns because we first developed an ability to produce and to work with the complexities of non-metrical image writing!

The true Origin of Writing can be found preserved in incredibly intricate glyphic re-markings, which were produced by humans as modifications to the natural (random) stone grain patterns readily visible on the surfaces of the stone artifacts which they regularly made. Originally: writing was formed from the techniques of materially-based production that were developed in the making of stone tools; and, writing developed within the contexts of association which are characteristic of vision.

This form of proto-glyphic image writing (very different from petroglyphs: but, since anthropologists and archaeologists from European heritages have historically expected to find only "stick man"-like scratches as the image-writing of North America's First Nations, that is all they have found) is composed of non-metrical multiplicities; the examples that I have posted on this web site show images created (in North America) at least ~10,000 to 40,000(+?) years ago. You will find Pleistocene mammals such as mammoth, mastodon, saber-toothed tigers, North American lions and horses; and a few surprises: residual species of dinosaur! There are pterosauri (pterodactyl), T.Rex, Apatosaurus (the dinosaur formerly known as Brontosaurus), and:
the species of intelligent, bi-pedal, tool-using reptiles whose remains have been mistakenly identified as belonging to "grey aliens!!!

Take a look, and see for yourself. Hey, I'm not making this stuff up; I'm just showing people what I have found, and what I have found is more amazing than anything that I could make up!

And I assure you: I did not begin this research project expecting to find images of dinosaurs that were obviously "drawn from life"! Finding such images was a very great surprise!

To Begin, Then...

This is a complex example of that non-metrical image writing which I am presenting through this web site. The existence of this form of writing has never been documented before. Here (in this greatly enlarged detail, taken from an outstanding example of this form of writing) it is possible to see how the glyphic composites of which this form of writing consists are (in this case) being presented as grouped into distinct and comparably sized image-areas. Such a reduction of non-metrical complexity (into a spatially consistent form of presentation) laid the foundation for the evolution of the various standardized image forms used by glyphic types of writing throughout the world...from the Middle East, through Asia, and into Central America. This in turn formed the basis from which phonetic forms of writing (such as that which I am using here, and which you are reading) were developed. A little later in this web site, I will show you another aspect of this reduction through simplification, in: the world's oldest cartouche (a type of graphemic composite which was commonly used for presenting the names of Egyptian Pharaohs...one of which was the first section of Egyptian hieroglyphs to be deciphered and translated, through the Rosetta Stone). There, you will see how non-metrical image writing achieved a conceptual stability, in the presentation of identity, that is very similar to the phonetic stability of words-for-objects (signification) which underlies and grounds both our spoken languages and our modern phonetically-based systems of writing. Far from being illiterate (as Judge McEachern assumed), the First Nations of North America, during pre-Columbian times, were among the most highly literate peoples of the world. They had even developed an accurate system for creating maps of their territories! By way of example, here is a 'glyph' that depicts the process of taking the sightings which provide those readings needed to accurately localize geographic positions in time (seasonally) and space (territorially). This particular 'glyph' can be found upon a pre-Columbian stone astrolabe... at a certain time of the day, on a certain day of the year, when the sun hits this particular spot on this stone astrolabe at just the right angle. It is through such remarkable stone-based technologies, and the knowledge which attended such technologies, that the First Nations of North America were able to construct accurate event-maps of their traditional territories LONG before Columbus - or any European nations, for that matter - even existed. The images of the North American horses shown above are from an era that I have taken to referring to as 'the first material epoch of First Nations culture'. The stone astrolabe is from the second material epoch of First Nations culture; and the skull-shaped event map of the northwest Coast is from the third material epoch. My analysis of the origin of writing traces the path glyphic writing developed upon, through these three epochs of material (stone-oriented) culture; but of course, I can only provide a brief outline and overview of this research within these website pages. It is generally agreed that phonetic writing systems themselves evolved out of glyphic writing systems; but I haven't included any analysis of that rather recent development in my research. If you would like to go directly to the core of my research concerning this form of image writing, then visit: "INTERPRETING NON-METRICAL IMAGE WRITING" . For a view of the stone that these examples of non-metrical image writing are taken from, VISIT HERE (the photo guide). "Copyright 2000 by John Morton, on behalf of the First Nations of North America" ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ("...including copyright over derivations..."): so, you'll have to check with me before using any of my work, and send me some money (IF you can afford to) for anything of mine that you make use of (except as noted below). As I live in Canada, this is the only way I have to fund my research; more on that, later. When an image that I have produced/presented is used without my permission, I (at the very least) cease showing any other aspects of the particular object in question to anyone outside of the First Nations. Autonomedia, Semiotext[e]: You know the context I am working within so, just use your own good judgment (bearing in mind that): Members of the First Nations are invited to make use of anything of mine that they choose to. All objects pictured on this web site remain the undisputed collective property of the First Nations in whose territories they originated. All objects pictured herein were found in the gravel of logging roads, below the high tide mark at an ocean's edge, and in similarly disassociated sites. Nothing was disturbed that hadn't already been completely randomized long before I arrived. Many of the objects you will see pictured here would eventually have been crushed by heavy vehicles, pounded by surf, or swept out to sea - had I not happened upon them. Link here to: The Indigenous Peoples Literature Group ...one of the best sites on the web when it comes to the culture of North America's Indigenous Peoples. IF YOU ARE IN A FINANCIAL POSITION TO DO SO, AND ARE INCLINED TOWARD ASSISTING THE EFFORTS OF A SELFLESS PERSON WHO IS DOING HIS UTMOST TO PRESERVE THE HERITAGE OF THE ABORIGINAL PEOPLES, PLEASE SERIOUSLY CONSIDER AIDING GLENN WELKER (who runs this web site out of his love for and dedication to the First Nations). It would be better if you were to help him to do what he is doing than it would be for you to help me with what I am doing. You can make a contribution to Glenn's work through the Amazon Honor System Paybox Which you can learn more about here: Learn More LINK here to Autonomedia: to visit their Information Exchange, Link Bank (when it returns), and other resources; and, buy a book, or something. Autonomedia is a not-for-profit organization. You can e-mail me here... LonCayeway@Yahoo.com

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The Origin of Writing

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CONTINUE READING "THE ORIGIN OF WRITING"
by VISITING THE SITE INDEX.

You can also proceed into this web site by reading:

Assembly of First Nations National Chief
Matthew Coon Come's Speech to
the Canadian Bar Association;
Toronto, Ontario, Canada; October 1, 2001

PLEASE READ THIS

(even if this is the only section that you stop and read on this web site).