Is it true that modern day humans have a greater ability to see different colors and shades of colors than they did in ancient times? By ancient times I'm referring to Greeks and Egyptians, etc., not zinjanthropus.

jerallene

yes, i think so very much , humans enviroments has changed alot over the time period. there are many different things to look at , like the different buildings, and different trees, waters, grasses, etc. and because the Greeks and the Egyptians i mean they did use various plants and made different colors from insects and trees and other useful ingredients, used pottery and mud and ground things so i really don't know!because they did wear alot of color on their eyes. shades of blues and blacks ,and reds. Sep 30 09, 8:51 AM

Arpeggionist

I'm not entirely sure if any answer can be authenticated. My own guess would be no, in fact the modern human eye is in many ways inferior to those of our ancestors. Just because most ancient texts don't make any great references to color differentiation doesn't mean that they didn't see colors. And their art, which is less concerned with color effects, was created by societies that did not have the technologies necessary to blend their colors well, and thus no evidence of how their eyes worked. John Dalton was well aware of his own colorblindness 250 years ago. In many preliterate cultures there are certain untranslatable words for various shades of what to the modern Western eye looks like indistinguishable colors, which suggests that in those cultures at least there is a great sensitivity to differences in shades. But all this is speculation, and probably no answer can really be verified. Sep 30 09, 11:24 AM

queproblema

It would be impossible to scientifically compare the perceptions of people long dead and those alive today, but we do know the ancients admired and used brilliant colors. Ancient Greek sculpture and buildings were highly colored. "'Gods in Color' at the National Archeaological Museum of Athens, displays 23 copies of famous ancient Greek marble statues and sculptures, reproduced in their true form - in strong colors of blue, red, green and yellow... "A painted reproduction of the statue of Paris the archer is displayed in a bright yellow tunic and tights with zig-zag designs in red and green." http://www.reuters.com/article/gc08/idUSL0754149720070214 A stanza of "The Song of Deborah," written possibly as early as the 6th century B.C., refers to color: "Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck— all this as plunder?" http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%205&version=NIV Sep 30 09, 11:40 AM

queproblema

Native Americans are also noted for their preference of colored garments. Here's just one example, there are many from both continents. "But what most attracted his attention was the woollen cloth of which some of their dresses were made. It was of a fine texture, delicately embroidered with figures of birds and flowers, and dyed in brilliant colors." http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/41/414.html Sep 30 09, 11:44 AM

Baloo55th

One thing that needs consideration is the range of colours available in olden days. The 'bright' colours of modern fabrics and paints are much brighter than the brightest possible before the discovery of aniline colours. Fabric dyes were previously of vegetable origin and were commonly greens, browns, etc. 'Brighter' colours were expensive, Tyrian purple being a classic example. Paints were often brighter than fabrics - it's easier to stick things to a wall or statue than to get them to take in a fabric. Most of those glaring white marble Greek statues were originally painted (any volunteers to restore them to original condition?) Part of the argument about colour range in earlier times comes from Homer - the 'wine-dark sea' and other things. But, remember that many of the colour names we use without thought weren't around more than a couple of hundred years or so (magenta being but one example). The vocabulary of colours has expanded, and finer and finer distinctions are being made (is that 1/2d stamp yellowish green or yellow-green? - they are distinct to a collector of British stamps, and not to mention pale yellowish green, deep yellowish green and so on). The colour orange once was only found on oranges and certain flowers that weren't of any real importance. Yellow-red sufficed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigment et al including the Stanley Gibbons Commonwealth catalogue and the SG Colour Key. Sep 30 09, 12:50 PM

unclerick

Thank you for all your responses, interesting subject. someone told me about humans having an increased ability to see color and I have wondered if it was true and how it could be verified. Anyone else ???? Oct 01 09, 12:41 PM

queproblema

Just me again, Uncle Rick. I think it would be fair to say modern day humans have a greater ability to produce, define, and catalog different colors and shades of colors than they did in ancient times. The ancients would have had the same physical and aesthetic abilities we have to appreciate color--they were surrounded with birds of brilliant plumage and wildflowers of every hue. They prized these colors, famously expending, for example, great labor to process Tyrian purple 2500 years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_purple One ancient source on color is the Bible. This "cyclopedia" has a long, detailed article on color starting on p. 415. It notes that not many color names are used in the Bible, that the Jews' "knowledge of artificial colors was very restricted," but that they were not "by any means insensible to the influence of color." http://books.google.com/books?id=WNwsAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA417&lpg=PA417&dq=ragaman+purple&source=bl&ots=mbc29e1tgL&sig=Ca9Zui39ORYbI9CpqDG9oyff_n8&hl=en&ei=EqnGSpSABYOysgOdqZ2iBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#v=onepage&q=ragaman%20purple&f=false The tabernacle in the wilderness and Solomon's temple, a millenium apart, were both draped in gorgeous and vivid color, and their priests wore robes embroidered in "blue, purple, and scarlet." The high priest wore a breastpiece of twelve colored stones. http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Exodus+28 Jesus pointed out that wildflowers were "more gloriously arrayed" than even Solomon! http://bible.cc/matthew/6-28.htm Someone else can plumb Homer. Oct 02 09, 7:52 PM