Misplaced Pages

#146853

79-540: The company is regarded as the inventor of the fibre-tipped (felt-tip) pen in 1963. Nowadays, Pentel produces a wide range of products that include writing implements , art materials and office goods. The company was founded in 1946 as "Japan Stationery Limited" ( Nihonbungu Kabushiki Gaisha ) in Tokyo by Yokio Horie, with the purpose of manufacturing crayons and pastels . The first products for sale were released in 1951, followed by pencils in 1960. In 1963 Pentel launched

158-466: A biro in many Commonwealth countries) and the felt tip pen . Both of these have subtypes which are popularly called by their own specific names, usually based on the type of their ink, such as the fluorescent highlighter , the rollerball pen , and the gel pen . Unlike the construction of a traditional wooden pencil around a solid graphite core, a mechanical pencil feeds a small, mobile piece of graphite through its tip. An internal mechanism controls

237-428: A Mycenaean market, or Mycenaean overlords of Crete. While Minoan figures, whether human or animal, have a great sense of life and movement, they are often not very accurate, and the species is sometimes impossible to identify; by comparison with Ancient Egyptian art they are often more vivid, but less naturalistic. In comparison with the art of other ancient cultures there is a high proportion of female figures, though

316-522: A descendant of the Minoan language. Largely forgotten after the Late Bronze Age collapse , the Minoan civilization was rediscovered in the early twentieth century through archaeological excavation . The term "Minoan" was coined by Arthur Evans , who excavated at Knossos and recognized it as culturally distinct from the mainland Mycenaean culture. Soon after, Federico Halbherr and Luigi Pernier excavated

395-649: A gradual shift from localized clan-based villages towards the more urbanized and stratified society of later periods. EM I (c. 3100-2650 BC) is marked by the appearance of the first painted ceramics. Continuing a trend that began during the Neolithic, settlements grew in size and complexity, and spread from fertile plains towards highland sites and islands as the Minoans learned to exploit less hospitable terrain. EM II (c. 2650-2200 BC) has been termed an international era. Trade intensified and Minoan ships began sailing beyond

474-450: A monarch, and textual evidence suggests they may have had some other form of governance. Likewise, it is unclear whether there was ever a unified Minoan state. Religious practices included worship at peak sanctuaries and sacred caves , but nothing is certain regarding their pantheon . The Minoans constructed enormous labyrinthine buildings which their initial excavators labeled Minoan palaces . Subsequent research has shown that they served

553-437: A precursor of blotting paper, being a dispenser for powdery material for drying the paper. Stencils can be used to create standardised letters, patterns or signatures. There are also pencil sharpeners that can exclusively be used with wooden pencils. Minoan Crete The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete . Known for its monumental architecture and energetic art , it

632-496: A surface. Initially, pens were made by slicing a suitable nib point from the end of a thin, hollow natural material which could retain a small reservoir of ink by capillary action . However, these ink reservoirs were relatively small, requiring the pen to be periodically dipped back into an external inkwell for replenishing. Reed pens were used by the ancient Egyptians to write on papyrus . Quill pens were standard in Europe and

711-770: A variety of religious and economic purposes rather than being royal residences, though their exact role in Minoan society is a matter of continuing debate. The Minoans traded extensively, exporting agricultural products and luxury crafts in exchange for raw metals which were difficult to obtain on Crete. Through traders and artisans, their cultural influence reached beyond Crete to the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean. Minoan craftsmen were employed by foreign elites, for instance to paint frescoes at Avaris in Egypt. The Minoans developed two writing systems known as Cretan hieroglyphs and Linear A . Because neither script has been fully deciphered ,

790-435: A variety of techniques. The most famous of these are a few inlaid with elaborate scenes in gold and silver set against a black (or now black) " niello " background, whose actual material and technique have been much discussed. These have long thin scenes running along the centre of the blade, which show the violence typical of the art of Mycenaean Greece, as well as a sophistication in both technique and figurative imagery that

869-416: Is an object used to produce writing . Writing consists of different figures, lines, and or forms. Most of these items can be also used for other functions such as painting , drawing and technical drawing , but writing instruments generally have the ordinary requirement to create a smooth, controllable line . Another writing implement employed by a smaller population is the stylus used in conjunction with

SECTION 10

#1732851666147

948-416: Is closely linked to their physical existence. However, specialized accessories such as pencil sharpeners may be required to reshape the working end of the pigment core or to remove the outer casing from around the tip. These require the presence of an added pigment in order to write, and are useless when "empty". The pen is the most common form of writing implement. It has a hard tip which applies ink to

1027-551: Is comparable to butter in northern European cuisine. The process of fermenting wine from grapes was probably a factor of the "Palace" economies; wine would have been a trade commodity and an item of domestic consumption. Farmers used wooden plows , bound with leather to wooden handles and pulled by pairs of donkeys or oxen . Seafood was also important in Cretan cuisine. The prevalence of edible molluscs in site material and artistic representations of marine fish and animals (including

1106-665: Is far from clear; one room in Akrotiri has been argued to be a bedroom, with remains of a bed, or a shrine. Animals, including an unusual variety of marine fauna, are often depicted; the Marine Style is a type of painted palace pottery from MM III and LM IA that paints sea creatures including octopus spreading all over the vessel, and probably originated from similar frescoed scenes; sometimes these appear in other media. Scenes of hunting and warfare, and horses and riders, are mostly found in later periods, in works perhaps made by Cretans for

1185-509: Is in part due to the possible presence of dwarf elephants in contemporary Egyptian art. Not all plants and flora were purely functional, and arts depict scenes of lily-gathering in green spaces. The fresco known as the Sacred Grove at Knossos depicts women facing left, flanked by trees. Some scholars have suggested that it is a harvest festival or ceremony to honor the fertility of the soil. Artistic depictions of farming scenes also appear on

1264-461: Is indicated by the construction of terraces and dams at Pseira in the Late Minoan period. Cretan cuisine included wild game: Cretans ate wild deer, wild boar and meat from livestock. Wild game is now extinct on Crete. A matter of controversy is whether Minoans made use of the indigenous Cretan megafauna, which are typically thought to have been extinct considerably earlier at 10,000   BC. This

1343-474: Is not considered to be the primary use of crayons. A wax pencil resembles both a crayon and a pencil in that it contains a brightly colored wax core within a protective paper casing, but its proportions are closer to that of a standard pencil. Wax pencils are primarily used to write onto nonporous surfaces such as porcelain or glass . Normal pencils, chalk, and crayons all share the characteristic that they cannot "run out". The useful life of these implements

1422-427: Is notably poor in metals, a fact believed to have spurred the Minoans' interest in international trade. The island is seismically active, with signs of earthquake damage at many Minoan sites. The majority of Minoan sites are found in central and eastern Crete, with few in the western part of the island, especially to the south. The Minoans were traders, and their cultural contacts reached Egypt , Cyprus , Canaan and

1501-456: Is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan palaces at Knossos and Phaistos are popular tourist attractions. The Minoan civilization developed from the local Neolithic culture around 3100   BC, with complex urban settlements beginning around 2000   BC. After c.   1450   BC, they came under the cultural and perhaps political domination of

1580-678: Is pre-ceramic Neolithic farming-community remains which date to about 7000   BC. A comparative study of DNA haplogroups of modern Cretan men showed that a male founder group, from Anatolia or the Levant , is shared with the Greeks. The Neolithic population lived in open villages. Fishermen's huts were found on the shores, and the fertile Messara Plain was used for agriculture. Early Minoan society developed largely continuously from local Neolithic predecessors, with some cultural influence and perhaps migration from eastern populations. This period saw

1659-623: Is startlingly original in a Greek context. Metal vessels were produced in Crete from at least as early as EM II (c. 2500   BC) in the Prepalatial period through to LM IA (c. 1450   BC) in the Postpalatial period and perhaps as late as LM IIIB/C (c. 1200   BC), although it is likely that many of the vessels from these later periods were heirlooms from earlier periods. The earliest were probably made exclusively from precious metals , but from

SECTION 20

#1732851666147

1738-410: Is thought to have had a religious significance; bull's heads are also a popular subject in terracotta and other sculptural materials. There are no figures that appear to be portraits of individuals, or are clearly royal, and the identities of religious figures is often tentative, with scholars uncertain whether they are deities, clergy or devotees. Equally, whether painted rooms were "shrines" or secular

1817-662: The Early Iron Age . The Minoan Civilization was centered on the island of Crete , with additional settlements around the Aegean Sea . Crete is located in the south of the Aegean, situated along maritime trade routes that connect Europe , Africa , and the Middle East . Because it straddles the Mediterranean and African climate zones, with land at a variety of elevations, it provides a diverse array of natural resources. However, it

1896-476: The Palace of Phaistos and the nearby settlement of Hagia Triada . A major breakthrough occurred in 1952, when Michael Ventris deciphered Linear B, drawing on earlier work by Alice Kober . This decipherment unlocked a crucial source of information on the economics and social organization in the final year of the palace. Minoan sites continue to be excavated, recent discoveries including the necropolis at Armeni and

1975-680: The Ship Procession miniature fresco from Akrotiri , land with a settlement as well, give a wider landscape than is usual. The largest and best collection of Minoan art is in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum ("AMH") near Knossos , on the northern coast of Crete. Many different styles of potted wares and techniques of production are observable throughout the history of Crete. Early Minoan ceramics were characterized by patterns of spirals , triangles , curved lines, crosses , fish bones , and beak-spouts. However, while many of

2054-521: The marine style of pottery decoration. Late Minoan I (c. 1700-1470 BC) was a continuation of the prosperous Neopalatial culture. A notable event from this era was the eruption of the Thera volcano , which occurred around 1600 BC towards the end of the LM IA subperiod. One of the largest volcanic explosions in recorded history, it ejected about 60 to 100 cubic kilometres (14 to 24 cu mi) of material and

2133-481: The potter's wheel during MM IB, producing wares such as Kamares ware . MM II (c. 1875–1700 BC) saw the development of the Minoan writing systems, Cretan hieroglyphic and Linear A . It ended with mass destructions generally attributed to earthquakes, though violent destruction has been considered as an alternative explanation. MM III (c. 1750–1700 BC) marks the beginning of the Neopalatial period. Most of

2212-516: The slate for punching out the dots in Braille . An autonomous writing implement is one that cannot "run out"—the only way to render it useless is to destroy it. The oldest known examples were created by incising a flat surface with a rigid tool rather than applying pigment with a secondary object, e.g., Chinese jiaguwen carved into turtle shells. However, this may simply represent the relative durability of such artifacts rather than truly representing

2291-595: The "Sign Pen", a fibre-type pen that was used by then President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson , who bought a dozen of them to sign photographs, apart from being adopted as the official writing instrument of NASA and going into space with a Gemini mission in 1966. Demand for a Sign Pen was so extraordinary that the Tokyo factories could not supply all requests. The Sign Pen was one of Pentel's most successful products with more than two billion units sold. In 1971

2370-485: The 13th century. Minoan strata replaced a mainland-derived early Bronze Age culture, the earliest Minoan settlement outside Crete. The Cyclades were in the Minoan cultural orbit and, closer to Crete, the islands of Karpathos , Saria and Kasos also contained middle-Bronze Age (MMI-II) Minoan colonies or settlements of Minoan traders. Most were abandoned in LMI, but Karpathos recovered and continued its Minoan culture until

2449-400: The Aegean to Egypt and Syria, possibly enabled by the invention of masted ships. Minoan material culture shows increased international influence, for instance in the adoption of Minoan seals based on the older Near Eastern seal . Minoan settlements grew, some doubling in size, and monumental buildings were constructed at sites that would later become palaces. EM III (c. 2200-2100 BC) saw

Pentel - Misplaced Pages Continue

2528-485: The Late Minoan period, flowers and animals were still characteristic but more variety existed. However, in contrast to later Ancient Greek vase painting , paintings of human figures are extremely rare, and those of land mammals not common until late periods. Shapes and ornament were often borrowed from metal tableware that has largely not survived, while painted decoration probably mostly derives from frescos. Minoan jewellery has mostly been recovered from graves, and until

2607-572: The Levantine coast and Anatolia. Minoan-style frescoes have been found at elite residences in Avaris and Tel Kabri . Minoan techniques and ceramic styles had varying degrees of influence on Helladic Greece . Along with Santorini, Minoan settlements are found at Kastri, Kythera , an island near the Greek mainland influenced by the Minoans from the mid-third millennium   BC (EMII) to its Mycenaean occupation in

2686-474: The Minoans as the kftjw (vocalized as " Keftiu " in modern Egyptological pronunciation ). It is not known whether this was an exonym or if it was an endonym originating in the Minoan language . Potentially related terms were used by a variety of Near Eastern cultures, and the Biblical term Caphtor has sometimes been identified with Crete. Two systems of relative chronology are used for

2765-639: The Minoans. The first, based on pottery styles, divides Minoan history into three major periods: Early Minoan (EM), Middle Minoan (MM) and Late Minoan (LM). These periods can be divided using Roman numerals (e.g. EM I, EM II, EM III), which can be further divided using capital letters (e.g. LM IIIA, LMIIIB, LM IIIC). An alternative system, proposed by Greek archaeologist Nikolaos Platon , divides Minoan history into four periods termed Prepalatial, Protopalatial, Neopalatial, and Postpalatial. Establishing an absolute chronology has proved difficult. Archaeologists have attempted to determine calendar dates by synchronizing

2844-934: The Mycenaean culture on mainland Greece , and they are often regarded as the same tradition. Many precious metal vessels found on mainland Greece exhibit Minoan characteristics, and it is thought that these were either imported from Crete or made on the mainland by Minoan metalsmiths working for Mycenaean patrons or by Mycenaean smiths who had trained under Minoan masters. The Minoans raised cattle , sheep , pigs and goats , and grew wheat , barley , vetch and chickpeas . They also cultivated grapes , figs and olives , grew poppies for seed and perhaps opium. The Minoans also domesticated bees . Vegetables, including lettuce , celery , asparagus and carrots , grew wild on Crete. Pear , quince , and olive trees were also native. Date palm trees and cats (for hunting) were imported from Egypt. The Minoans adopted pomegranates from

2923-482: The Near East, but not lemons and oranges . They may have practiced polyculture , and their varied, healthy diet resulted in a population increase. Polyculture theoretically maintains soil fertility and protects against losses due to crop failure. Linear B tablets indicate the importance of orchards ( figs , olives and grapes) in processing crops for "secondary products". Olive oil in Cretan or Mediterranean cuisine

3002-462: The Protopalatial period (MM IB – MM IIA) they were also produced in arsenical bronze and, subsequently, tin bronze . The archaeological record suggests that mostly cup-type forms were created in precious metals, but the corpus of bronze vessels was diverse, including cauldrons, pans, hydrias , bowls, pitchers, basins, cups, ladles and lamps. The Minoan metal vessel tradition influenced that of

3081-486: The United States up through the 18th and 19th centuries, and are still used in various contexts, such as calligraphy and formal settings such as major bank transactions. The most common quills were taken from the wings of geese or ravens , although the feathers of swans and peacocks were sometimes favored for prestige. A dip pen has a steel nib (the pen proper) and a pen-holder. Dip pens are very versatile, as

3160-512: The artistic motifs are similar in the Early Minoan period, there are many differences that appear in the reproduction of these techniques throughout the island which represent a variety of shifts in taste as well as in power structures. There were also many small terracotta figurines. During the Middle Minoan period, naturalistic designs (such as fish, squid, birds and lilies) were common. In

3239-555: The bristles into an external pool of ink on an inkstone , analogous to a traditional dip pen with an inkwell. Some companies now make " brush pens " which in that regard resemble a fountain pen, with an internal ink reservoir built into the handle which can be refilled with preloaded cartridges or a bottle-fill converter. Other implements indirectly associated with writing include erasers for pen and pencil, pencil sharpeners , pencil extenders , inkwells , blotter paper , and rulers and related drawing instruments . Pounce pots were

Pentel - Misplaced Pages Continue

3318-472: The brush is tipped with soft bristles. The bristles are gently swept across the paper with just enough pressure to allow ink to wick onto the surface, rather than mashing down the brush to the extent of substantial friction resistance. Although pens with semi-flexible nibs and liquid ink can also vary their stroke width depending on the degree of applied pressure, their variation range is far less obvious. Traditionally, brushes have been loaded with ink by dipping

3397-638: The company changed its name to "Pentel Co. Ltd." and one year later, the green rollerball pen with water-based ink, was launched. Horie remained as President of the company until his death in 2010. In the 2010s, Pentel launched the "Pocket Brush", a fudepen that used replaceable waterproof ink cartridges, like fountain pens (and unlike conventional brush pens, which are more like marker pens .) Brush pens (designed and recommended for calligraphy ) have also gained popularity among comic book artists, who choose them to ink their works instead of dip pens or traditional brushes . One of those artists using Pentel

3476-478: The continuation of these trends. MM I (c. 2100–1875 BC) saw the emergence of Protopalatial society. During MM IA (c. 2100-1925 BC), populations increased dramatically at sites such as Knossos, Phaistos, and Malia, accompanied by major construction projects. During MM IB (c. 1925-1875 BC), the first palaces were built at these sites, in areas which had been used for communal ceremonies since the Neolithic. Middle Minoan artisans developed new colorful paints and adopted

3555-513: The dating of the eruption of Thera , which is known to have occurred towards the end of the LM IA period. While carbon dating places this event (and thus LM IA) around 1600 BC, synchronism with Egyptian records would place it roughly a century later. Although stone-tool evidence suggests that hominins may have reached Crete as early as 130,000 years ago, evidence for the first anatomically modern human presence dates to 10,000–12,000 YBP . The oldest evidence of modern human habitation on Crete

3634-480: The distinctive Marine Style pottery, such as the LM IIIC "Octopus" stirrup jar ), indicate appreciation and occasional use of fish by the economy. However, scholars believe that these resources were not as significant as grain, olives and animal produce. "Fishing was one of the major activities...but there is as yet no evidence for the way in which they organized their fishing." An intensification of agricultural activity

3713-643: The end of the Bronze Age. Other supposed Minoan colonies, such as that hypothesized by Adolf Furtwängler on Aegina , were later dismissed by scholars. However, there was a Minoan colony at Ialysos on Rhodes . Minoan cultural influence indicates an orbit extending through the Cyclades to Egypt and Cyprus. Fifteenth-century   BC paintings in Thebes, Egypt depict Minoan-appearing individuals bearing gifts. Inscriptions describing them as coming from keftiu ("islands in

3792-488: The evolution of techniques, as the meaningful application of pigment is attested in prehistoric cave paintings such as the ones at Lascaux . The ancient Sumerians and their successor cultures, such as the Babylonians , produced their cuneiform writing by pressing a triangular stylus into soft clay tablets, creating characteristic wedge-shaped marks. The clay tablets were then baked to harden them and permanently preserve

3871-404: The famous shaft-grave burials contain many very richly decorated swords and daggers . In contrast spears and "slashing-knives" tend to be "severely functional". Many of the decorated weapons were probably made either in Crete, or by Cretans working on the mainland. Daggers are often the most lavishly decorated, with gold hilts that may be set with jewels, and the middle of the blade decorated with

3950-735: The finest Minoan art, the ability to create an atmosphere of movement and life although following a set of highly formal conventions". It forms part of the wider grouping of Aegean art , and in later periods came for a time to have a dominant influence over Cycladic art . Wood and textiles have decomposed, so most surviving examples of Minoan art are pottery , intricately-carved Minoan seals , palace frescos which include landscapes (but are often mostly "reconstructed"), small sculptures in various materials, jewellery, and metalwork. The relationship of Minoan art to that of other contemporary cultures and later Ancient Greek art has been much discussed. It clearly dominated Mycenaean art and Cycladic art of

4029-492: The frescoes, and many labrys pins survive. The Minoans mastered granulation , as indicated by the Malia Pendant , a gold pendant featuring bees on a honeycomb. This was overlooked by the 19th-century looters of a royal burial site they called the "Gold Hole". Fine decorated bronze weapons have been found in Crete, especially from LM periods, but they are far less prominent than in the remains of warrior-ruled Mycenae, where

SECTION 50

#1732851666147

4108-469: The harbour town of Kommos . The modern term "Minoan" is derived from the name of the mythical King Minos , who the Classical Greeks believed to have ruled Knossos in the distant past. It was popularized by Arthur Evans , possibly drawing on an earlier suggestion by Karl Hoeck . It is a modern coinage and not used by the Minoans, whose name for themselves is unknown. The Egyptians referred to

4187-485: The idea that Minoans had only goddesses and no gods is now discounted. Most human figures are in profile or in a version of the Egyptian convention with the head and legs in profile, and the torso seen frontally; but the Minoan figures exaggerate features such as slim male waists and large female breasts. What is called landscape painting is found in both frescos and on painted pots, and sometimes in other media, but most of

4266-436: The identity of the Minoan language is unknown. Based on what is known, the language is regarded as unlikely to belong to a well-attested language family such as Indo-European or Semitic . After 1450 BC, a modified version of Linear A known as Linear B was used to write Mycenaean Greek , which had become the language of administration on Crete. The Eteocretan language attested in a few post-Bronze Age inscriptions may be

4345-401: The ink from evaporating dry or wicking into the user's pocket. Depending on the design of the pen, the ink reservoir can be filled in several different ways: direct addition by eyedropper, suction from an internal mechanism, or disposable pre-filled cartridges. Some cartridge-based fountain pens can be fitted with "converters", which are separate piston/suction reservoirs of the same dimensions as

4424-428: The ink to leak when travelling by airplane. A large number of new pen types were popularized in the 20th century. Some of them are not constructed to be refilled with ink after they run dry; although others can theoretically have their internal ink compartment replaced, the widespread custom is to simply throw away the entire pen when its ink is no longer accessible. These types include the ballpoint pen (often called

4503-432: The island, marking the end of Neopalatial society. These destructions are thought to have been deliberate, since they spared certain sites in a manner inconsistent with natural disasters. For instance, the town at Knossos burned while the palace itself did not. The causes of these destructions have been a perennial topic of debate. While some researchers attributed them to Mycenaean conquerors, others have argued that they were

4582-468: The later periods much of it consists of diadems and ornaments for women's hair, though there are also the universal types of rings, bracelets, armlets and necklaces, and many thin pieces that were sewn onto clothing. In the earlier periods gold was the main material, typically hammered very thin. but later it seemed to become scarce. The Minoans created elaborate metalwork with imported gold and copper. Bead necklaces, bracelets and hair ornaments appear in

4661-479: The mainland Mycenaean Greeks , forming a hybrid culture which lasted until around 1100   BC. Minoan art included elaborately decorated pottery , seals , figurines , and colorful frescoes . Typical subjects include nature and ritual. Minoan art is often described as having a fantastical or ecstatic quality, with figures rendered in a manner suggesting motion. Little is known about the structure of Minoan society. Minoan art contains no unambiguous depiction of

4740-458: The marks. Several other ancient cultures such as Mycenaean Greece also inscribed their records into clay tablets but did not routinely bake them; much of the Linear B corpus from Minoan Crete was accidentally preserved by a catastrophic fire which hard-baked those tablets. The Romans used lead styli with wax tablets which could be "erased" by rubbing the beeswax surface smooth again. In

4819-435: The middle of the sea") may refer to gift-bringing merchants or officials from Crete. Some locations on Crete indicate that the Minoans were an "outward-looking" society. The neo-palatial site of Kato Zakros is located within 100 meters of the modern shoreline in a bay. Its large number of workshops and wealth of site materials indicate a possible entrepôt for trade. Such activities are seen in artistic representations of

SECTION 60

#1732851666147

4898-531: The modern era, hand held computers and certain other computer input devices use a stylus to enter information onto a screen by applying pressure rather than by depositing pigment. Words and names are still commonly inscribed into commemorative objects, such as the engraved winners' names on the silver Stanley Cup or the Gettysburg Address carved into the stone wall of the Lincoln Memorial , but

4977-454: The palaces were rebuilt with architectural innovations, with the notable exception of Phaistos. Cretan hieroglyphs were abandoned in favor of Linear A, and Minoan cultural influence becomes significant in mainland Greece. The Late Minoan period was an eventful time that saw profound change in Minoan society. Many of the most recognizable Minoan artifacts date from this time, for instance the snake goddess figurines , La Parisienne Fresco , and

5056-557: The palaces, only Knossos remained in use, though it too was destroyed by LM IIIB2. The language of administration shifted to Mycenaean Greek and material culture shows increased mainland influence, reflecting the rise of a Greek-speaking elite. In Late Minoan IIIC (c. 1200-1075 BC), coinciding with the wider Late Bronze Age collapse , coastal settlements were abandoned in favor of defensible locations on higher ground. These small villages, some of which grew out of earlier mountain shrines, continued aspects of recognizably Minoan culture until

5135-431: The pen's usual refill cartridge; these allow the pen to refill from bottled ink. Only certain types of ink can be used in a fountain pen, to avoid clogging up the nib unit mechanism. Although the larger reservoir of fountain pens requires less frequent ink replenishment, the ink may inconveniently spill out in certain contexts to stain the paper, fingers, or clothing of an unwary writer. Differences in air pressure may cause

5214-434: The pen-holder can accommodate a wide variety of nibs that are specialized for different purposes: copperplate writing, mapping pens, and five-pointed nibs for drawing music staves . They can be used with most types of ink, some of which are incompatible with other types of pen. Automatic pens are a category of dip pen, in which the nib is in two parts and can hold a larger quantity of ink. However, like all of its precursors,

5293-464: The periods of Minoan history with those of their better understood contemporaries. For example, Minoan artifacts from the LM IB period have been found in 18th Dynasty contexts in Egypt, for which Egyptian chronology provides calendar dates. However, dates determined in this manner do not always match the results of carbon dating and other methods based on natural science . Much of the controversy concerns

5372-472: The position of the graphite by friction, so that although it remains steady while writing, the graphite can be advanced forward to compensate for gradual wear or retracted to protect it when not in use. The graphite in mechanical pencils is typically much narrower than in wooden pencils, frequently in sub-millimeter diameters. This makes them particularly useful for fine diagrams or small handwriting, although different sizes of refill leads cannot be interchanged in

5451-467: The requisite tools are not exclusively considered to be writing instruments. The original form of "lead pencil " was the leaden stylus used by the ancient Romans, who also used it to write on wood or papyrus by leaving dark streaks where the soft metal rubbed off onto the surface. The concept has been revived in recent times as the core of the inkless pen : a lead-based metal alloy that leaves dark markings on paper by abrading small pieces of core onto

5530-474: The result of internal upheavals. Similarly, while some researchers have attempted to link them to lingering environmental disruption from the Thera eruption, others have argued that the two events are too distant in time for any causal relation. Late Minoan II (c. 1470-1420 BC) is sparsely represented in the archaeological record, but appears to have been a period of decline. Late Minoan III (c. 1420-1075 BC) shows profound social and political changes. Among

5609-494: The room. In the 19th century, and indeed well into the 20th century, when paper was less readily available, individual students also wrote with chalk on their own small slates . Both pencils and chalk exist in variants which can create marks in other colors, but colored pencils and colored chalk are generally considered to be art supplies rather than writing instruments. Similarly, although very young children may use colorful wax crayons to write words into their pictures, writing

5688-454: The same pencil unless it has been specially designed for that purpose. Although in Western civilization writing is usually done with some form of pencil or pen , other cultures have used other instruments. Chinese characters are traditionally written with a brush , which is perceived as lending itself to a graceful, flowing stroke. A brush differs from a pen in that instead of a rigid nib,

5767-514: The same periods, even after Crete was occupied by the Mycenaeans, but only some aspects of the tradition survived the Greek Dark Ages after the collapse of Mycenaean Greece. Minoan art has a variety of subject-matter, much of it appearing across different media, although only some styles of pottery include figurative scenes. Bull-leaping appears in painting and several types of sculpture, and

5846-621: The sea, including the Ship Procession or "Flotilla" fresco in room five of the West House at Akrotiri . In 2024, archaeologists discovered a Minoan bronze dagger with silver rivets in an ancient shipwreck at Kumluca in Antalya Province . According to the researchers, the discovery highlights the cultural and commercial exchanges in the Mediterranean during the bronze age. Minoan art is marked by imaginative images and exceptional workmanship. Sinclair Hood described an "essential quality of

5925-412: The steel-nibbed dip pens had a limited ink reservoir and a tendency to drip inkblots on the page. The first modern fountain pens were developed in the 19th century, with functionally similar designs appearing as early as the 10th century. These consist of the nib unit, an ink reservoir chamber, and an external casing. The casing usually includes a cover for the nib, in order to protect its shape and keep

6004-411: The surface. However, most modern "lead pencils " have a nonpoisonous core of greyish-black graphite mixed with various proportions of clay for consistency, enclosed within an outer wooden casing to protect the fragile graphite from being snapped apart or from leaving marks on the user's hand. White chalk has been traditionally used in schoolrooms to write on a main blackboard at the front of

6083-435: The time this consists of plants shown fringing a scene, or dotted around within it. There is a particular visual convention where the surroundings of the main subject are laid out as though seen from above, though individual specimens are shown in profile. This accounts for the rocks being shown all round a scene, with flowers apparently growing down from the top. The seascapes surrounding some scenes of fish and of boats, and in

6162-607: Was Neal Adams . Product lines include Sharp Kerry , Sharp P200 series , Graph 1000 , Graphgear ( 500, 800 and 1000 ), Smash , Orenz , OrenzNero (mechanical pencils or "sharps"); Ain and Hi-Polymer (mechanical pencil leads, erasers); Energel (gel ink pens); Vicuña (hybrid ink ballpoint pen); Pentel Pen (permanent marker), and Sign Pen (fine tip marker). Range of products manufactured by Pentel includes: Pentel produces and sells electronic devices and production equipment in addition to stationery. Writing implement A writing implement or writing instrument

6241-556: Was measured at 7 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index . While the eruption destroyed Cycladic settlements such as Akrotiri and led to the abandonment of some sites in northeast Crete, other Minoan sites such as Knossos continued to prosper. The post-eruption LM IB period (c.1625-1470) saw ambitious new building projects, booming international trade, and artistic developments such as the marine style . Late Minoan IB (c. 1625-1470 BC) ended with severe destructions throughout

#146853