This document provides a timeline and overview of the history and development of indigenous creative crafts from 8000 BCE to the 20th century. Some key events include the emergence of pottery in Mesopotamia around 8000 BCE, the use of flax textiles in Iran around 6500 BCE, the first copper smelting in Turkey around 6200 BCE, and the rise of craft guilds in medieval Europe between the 4th and 15th centuries. The document also discusses how the Industrial Revolution led to the decline of craft guilds and rise of the Arts and Crafts movement in the 19th century seeking to promote good design against mass production.

1. History and Development of
Indigenous Creative Crafts

2. Defining the word
History
- The word history comes from
the Ancient Greek (historía), meaning
"inquiry", "knowledge from inquiry", or "judge".

3. - Meanwhile, as Latin became Old
French (and Anglo-Norman), historia developed into
forms such as istorie, estoire, and historie, with new
developments in the meaning:
- "account of the events of a person's life
(beginning of the 12th century),
-dramatic or pictorial representation of historical
events (c. 1240)

4. - body of knowledge relative to human
evolution, science (c. 1265)
- narrative of real or imaginary events, story
(c. 1462)“,

5. Defining History as a Subject…
History is the study of change and development in
society over time. The study of history enables us to
understand how past human action affects the present and
influences our future, and it allows us to evaluate these
effects.

6. Timeline…

8. • 8000 BCE – Pottery and earthenware of
Mesopotamia
• 6500 BCE – Use of flax textile in Tepe Sabz (Iran)
• 6200 BCE – First copper smelting in Anatolia (south
of Mesopotamia)
• 5500 BCE – Faience works (Ancient Egypt)

9. • 3000 BCE - First use of veneered wood in (Ancient
Egypt)
• 2500 BCE – Ceramic production in Crete, Greece
• 2040 BCE – Bronze metal works in Middle Kingdom
(Ancient Egypt)
• 2000 BCE – Wood tombs/sarcophagus and
furniture with varnish/finish (Ancient Egypt)

10. • 1380 BCE – First instance of iron working in Hittite
Empire
• 200 BCE – Iron in the Celtic world experience
significant boom in all facet of life
• 200 BCE – Plumbing/sewer system, roads of
Romans
• 50 BCE – Invention of glass blowing

11. • 400 AD – Chinese started to cut paper for various
decorative purposes
• 476 AD – 14th Century (Middle Ages) – rise of “craft
guilds”
• 15th Century – Intervention of state on rules
regarding apprenticeship

12. • 16th Century onwards – Decline/abolishment of craft
guilds due to Industrial Revolution.
• 1850 – 1900 – rise of the Arts and Craft Movement
which originated in Britain
• 20th Century – Nouveau Art, Deco Art

13. In-depth details…

14. 8000 BCE – Pottery and earthenware of
Mesopotamia
-about 10,000 years ago
- Mesopotamia, currenty known as Northen Iraq.
- The earliest forms, which were found were hand
formed from slabs, undecorated, unglazed low-
fired pots made from reddish-brown clays.

15. - Usually pottery in Mesopotamia and Syria
was plain and did not have any decorations. This
piece of pottery is earthenware, which is pottery that
is not fired at a high enough temperature to be able
to pour liquids in it without using glazes.

17. 6500 BCE – Use of flax textile in
Tepe Sabz (Iran)
- about 8,000 years ago
- a blue-flowered herbaceous plant that is cultivated for its
seed (linseed) and for textile fiber made from its stalks.
- Though tiny, they are rich in the omega-3 fatty acid ALA,
lignans and fiber, used to improve digestive health, lower
blood pressure and bad cholesterol.

18. - Flax is grown for its seeds, which can be ground into
a meal or turned into linseed oil, a product used as a
nutritional supplement and as an ingredient in many
wood-finishing products. Flax is also grown as an
ornamental plant in gardens. Moreover, flax fibers
are used to make linen.

20. 6200 BCE – First copper smelting in Anatolia
(south of Mesopotamia)
- About 8,000 years ago
- Smelting is the process of extracting (metal) from its ore
by a process involving heating and melting.

21. - The main difference between melting and
smelting is that melting converts a solid
substance into a liquid whereas smelting converts
an ore to its purest form.

23. 5500 BCE – faience works
(Ancient Egypt)
- About 7,500 years ago
- Because it is composed mainly of silica (sand or
crushed quartz), along with small amounts of sodium
and calcium, faience is considered a non-clay or
siliceous ceramic.

24. - Besides statuary, the Egyptians used faience for the
manufacture of jewelry (rings, amulets, necklaces) but
also for scarabs, to create the board and pieces for the
game of Senet, for furniture and even for bowls and
cups.

28. 3000 BCE - first use of veneered wood in
(Ancient Egypt)
- about 5,020 years ago
- In woodworking, veneer refers to thin slices of wood and
sometimes bark, usually thinner than 3 mm, that typically are
glued onto core panels to produce flat panels such as doors,
tops and panels for cabinets, parquet floors and parts of
furniture.

29. - The Egyptians used veneers in their furniture and
sarcophagi. In Tutankhamen's tomb, some pieces of
furniture using veneer were found, showing that
although the woodworking techniques of that time
were still very rudimentary, the inner beauty
of wood was already sought after.

31. 2500 BCE – Ceramic production in Crete,
Greece
- About 4000 years ago
- The first distinctive Greek pottery style first appeared
around 1000 BCE or perhaps even earlier. Reminiscent
in technique of the earlier Greek , early Greek
pottery decoration employed simple shapes, sparingly
used.

33. 2040 BCE – bronze metal works in Middle
Kingdom (Ancient Egypt)
- About 4000 years ago
- Egyptians produced the bronze alloy by mixing a
small amount of tin with copper during the smelting
process. Bronze is harder than copper and melted at a
lower temperature, which made is easier to cast. Some
historians believe that bronze was discovered when
artisans accidentally mixed tin and copper ores.

35. 2000 BCE – wood tombs/sarcophagus and
furniture with varnish/finish (Ancient Egypt)
- About 4000 years ago
- A sarcophagus is a coffin, typically adorned with a
sculpture or inscription and associated with the ancient
civilizations of Egypt, Rome, and Greece.

38. 1380 BCE – first instance of iron working in
Hittite Empire
- About 3,320 years ago
- The Hittites occupied the ancient region
of Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor, modern-
day Turkey) prior to 1700 BCE.

39. - Developed a culture apparently from the
indigenous Hatti (and possibly the Hurrian) people, and
expanded their territories into an empire which rivaled,
and threatened, the established nation of Egypt.

43. 200 BCE – plumbing/sewer system,
roads of Romans
- About 2200 years ago
- The Romans had a complex system of sewers covered by
stones, much like modern sewers. Waste flushed from the
latrines flowed through a central channel into the
main sewage system and thence into a nearby river or
stream.

44. - Perhaps the most important and brilliant innovation
of the Roman sewer system is the fact that it was
(eventually) covered, cutting down on disease, smells
and unpleasant sights.

50. 50 BCE – invention of
glass blowing
- About 2000 years ago
- Glassblowing is a glass forming technique that involves
inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the
aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows
glass is called a glassblower, glassmith, or gaffer.

51. - Glass blowers face respiratory hazards from the
materials used to make the glass. Hazards can take
the form of fumes or inhaled particulates. For
example, dirty glass and quartz produce
harmful fumes when heated.

57. 400 AD – Chinese started to cut paper for
various decorative purposes
- About 1,600 years ago
- Paper was invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Ha
Dynasty in China. As paper became more affordable,
paper-cutting became one of the most important types
of Chinese folk art.

58. - Later, this art form spread to other parts of the world,
with different regions adopting their own cultural styles.

60. 476 AD – 14th Century (Middle Ages) – rise of
“Craft Guilds”
- Guilds in the Middle Ages were associations or groups of
craftsmen. Each guild focused on a specific trade such as
the candlemaker's guild or the tanner's guild. Why were
guilds important? Guilds in the Middle Ages played an
important role in society.

61. Organization of Work
Town life grew more vigorous, craft guilds assumed
greater importance, reaching their peak in the 14th
century. Their purpose was to limit the supply of labour in
a profession and to control production. Guild members
were ranked according to experience: masters,
journeymen, and apprentices.

62. 15th Century – intervention of state on rules
regarding apprenticeship.
16th Century onwards – decline/abolishment
of craft guilds due to Industrial Revolution.

63. Industrial Revolution
- The Industrial Revolution, now also known as the
First Industrial Revolution, was the transition to
new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United
States, in the period from about 1760 to sometime
between 1820 and 1840.

64. - The Industrial Revolution transformed economies that
had been based on agriculture and handicrafts into
economies based on large-scale industry, mechanized
manufacturing, and the factory system. New machines,
new power sources, and new ways of organizing work
made existing industries more productive and efficient.

65. 1850 – 1900: Rise of the Arts and Craft
Movement which originated in Britain
• Advocated good design and craftsmanship at the time
of increased mechanization and mass production
• Originated from the ideas of John Ruskin who abhorred
highly decorated machine made products.

66. 20th Century – Nouveau Art,
Deco Art
- Precursor of minimalism in Applied Arts and Architecture
- Anti-industrialism movement by Artisans and Craftsmen
after the WWII