Mirror Account - From cavemen to modern humans
- elly
- Nov 11, 2019
- 4 min read

Mirrors have existed for thousands of years, since cavemen first stopped to check their hair still in a basin of rain water. Well, maybe not, but it is true that a basic mirror is just a pool or a bowl of rainwater that can still be used to ask questions about one's reflection. You can almost visualize the entertainment of the prehistoric man when he looks at himself for the first time. time, a charm that remains in mankind to this day. The oldest mirror ever found dates from 6000 BC and is printed from polished obsidian crystals, a form of dark glass that forms in volcanic regions. Other early forms of mirrors include shiny copper, shiny crystals and shiny bronze as well as a number of unusual alloys, all polished to a mirror-like finish and thin and there is even a suggestion that expensive metals are very shiny and used as mirrors by richer members of civilization.
However it wasn't until the last 200 years or so like mirrored glass where painted with reflective metal surfaces began to bear fruit, with the suggestion that the Romans 19th century convex mirror might be the first to use lead glass mirrors and sometimes, mirror gold leaf supported for the upper classes . Around 500AD, the Chinese began producing mirrors on a larger scale thanks to their method of covering glass with a silver-mercury mixture which gave a substantial increase in the quality of reflection. After all it wasn't until in the last few years in the 16th century that such mirrors began to become more affordable to the public, thanks to the introduction of tin-mercury composites which were cheaper to produce and provided high quality reflections. Venice is widely credited with the identification of this alloy, because the exact place and time are somewhat unclear, and mirrors are produced in Venice where the price is very expensive considering the raw material.
Lately, especially the 19th century, silver glass has become a benchmark for mirrors thanks to an approach refined by German scientists. Its ability allows a thin layer of silver nitrate to be applied to the back of the glass panel, this silver nitrate when exposed to chemicals changes the thin layer of silver which is highly reflective on the back of the glass. This knowledge soon became a benchmark in mirror production and allowed mirrors to be mass-produced for the first time in history, substantially reducing the nominal value and making it affordable to the wider community. In recent years, silver nitrate has been replaced by aluminum due to price reasons, but its ability has remained unchanged.
These mirrors are seen as part of conventional life and are more common than they have ever been in history. Comes in various shapes and sizes and with a collection of strange and beautiful frames and abbreviations for free standing mirrors. So there you have it, if it wasn't for the cogotism of thousands of years ago we might never have had the possibility to reflect on our reflection in the mirror!Mirror Account - From cavemen to modern humans
Mirrors have existed for thousands of years, since cavemen first stopped to check their hair still in a basin of rain water. Well, maybe not, but it is true that a basic mirror is just a pool or a bowl of rainwater that can still be used to ask questions about one's reflection. You can almost visualize the entertainment of the prehistoric man when he looks at himself for the first time. time, a charm that remains in mankind to this day. The oldest mirror ever found dates from 6000 BC and is printed from polished obsidian crystals, a form of dark glass that forms in volcanic regions. Other early forms of mirrors include shiny copper, shiny crystals and shiny bronze as well as a number of unusual alloys, all polished to a mirror-like finish and thin and there is even a suggestion that expensive metals are very shiny and used as mirrors by richer members of civilization.
However it wasn't until the last 200 years or so like mirrored glass where painted with reflective metal surfaces began to bear fruit, with the suggestion that the Romans might be the first to use lead glass mirrors and sometimes, mirror gold leaf supported for the upper classes . Around 500AD, the Chinese began producing mirrors on a larger scale thanks to their method of covering glass with a silver-mercury mixture which gave a substantial increase in the quality of reflection. After all it wasn't until in the last few years in the 16th century that such mirrors began to become more Decorative convex mirror affordable to the public, thanks to the introduction of tin-mercury composites which were cheaper to produce and provided high quality reflections. Venice is widely credited with the identification of this alloy, because the exact place and time are somewhat unclear, and mirrors are produced in Venice where the price is very expensive considering the raw material.
Lately, especially the 19th century, silver glass has become a benchmark for mirrors thanks to an approach refined by German scientists. Its ability allows a thin layer of silver nitrate to be applied to the back of the glass panel, this silver nitrate when exposed to chemicals changes the thin layer of silver which is highly reflective on the back of the glass. This knowledge soon became a benchmark in mirror production and allowed mirrors to be mass-produced for the first time in history, substantially reducing the nominal value and making it affordable to the wider community. In recent years, silver nitrate has been replaced by aluminum due to price reasons, but its ability has remained unchanged.
These mirrors are seen as part of conventional life and are more common than they have ever been in history. Comes in various shapes and sizes and with a collection of strange and beautiful frames and abbreviations for free standing mirrors. So there you have it, if it wasn't for the cogotism of thousands of years ago we might never have had the possibility to reflect on our reflection in the mirror!
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